One of the closest allies of Myanmar’s regime leader was directly involved in carrying out the executions of four dissidents inside Yangon’s Insein Prison over the weekend, a source with knowledge of the situation has revealed.
Lt-Gen Soe Htut, the junta’s minister for home affairs, personally supervised the hangings of Ko Jimmy, 53, Phyo Zayar Thaw, 41, Hla Myo Aung, 41, and Aung Thura Zaw, 27, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The former head of military intelligence is known to be a staunch loyalist of Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, who overthrew the country’s elected civilian government in February of last year.
He was appointed to his current position a year before the coup, when he was chosen to replace Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, who was seen by the military as being on good terms with now-ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
As home affairs minister, he heads the regime’s police force and corrections department. In this capacity, he has also reportedly played a direct role in the decision to place Suu Kyi in solitary confinement inside a detention centre in Naypyitaw.
Fears of unrest
Since announcing the executions on Monday, the junta has been tight-lipped about disclosing any further details, refusing even to say when they were carried out.
According to Myanmar Now’s source, who initially reported the executions days before they were announced, two of the prisoners, Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeyar Thaw, were put to death at around 4:15am on Saturday and cremated soon afterwards.
He added that security was heightened in Yangon during and after the executions in anticipation of potential retaliation attacks by urban guerrilla groups.
However, apart from reports of gunshots being fired outside of Insein Prison on Monday, and of pot-banging—a popular form of protest in the early days of the anti-coup movement—resuming in several Yangon neighbourhoods, there were no major incidents of unrest.
Meanwhile, a source inside Insein Prison said that additional restrictions on the movements of prisoners were imposed from Friday evening until Monday to prevent possible protests.
“Normally, prisoners queue up to receive their meals, but for the past few days, prison staff distributed food to the prisoners in their cells,” the source said.
Despite such measures, however, there were reports on Monday that several inmates had staged a protest and were beaten before being placed in solitary confinement.
No closure
At a press conference on Tuesday, the junta’s spokesperson, Gen Zaw Min Tun, cited security concerns as a reason for prison officials’ refusal to release the bodies of the executed prisoners to their families.
“The decision of whether to release the dead bodies rests with the judgement of the prison officer. If it is deemed that the funeral proceedings can cause riots or instability, the prison officer can arrange for cremation,” he said.
But family members said the regime’s refusal to provide even the most basic information has denied them any possibility of achieving closure.
“As a Buddhist, I need to know when my son died so that we can perform funeral rites. But the prison officials would only tell me to assume that it was on Saturday or Sunday,” said Khin May Win, the 76-year-old mother of Phyo Zayar Thaw, a popular rap singer who went on to become an elected lawmaker with Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
Khin Win May told Myanmar Now that she was also denied an opportunity to properly say goodbye to her son, despite being allowed a brief visit on Friday that was conducted via video from a building inside the prison compound.
She said that during their 20-minute conversation, both she and Phyo Zayar Thaw were in good spirits, as they spoke to each other for the first time in months.
Before parting, she said, her son asked her for a few items from home—books, a dictionary, and reading glasses—apparently oblivious of his fate.
“He didn’t seem to know, and neither did I. We both were so happy,” she said. “We thought we would have another chance to meet, so we were very happy.
![Resistance fighters holding heavy weapons ammunition in central Myanmar. (Photo: Freedom Revolution Force [FRF])](https://myanmar-now.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/04/438869056_443267851680128_1706386881626943924_n-390x220.jpeg)
