Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Myanmar military revokes citizenship of opposition members

Share
BANGKOK -

Myanmar's ruling military council has announced the revocation of the citizenship of top members of the main group coordinating resistance to army rule.

The announcement broadcast on state-run MRTV television on Friday said 11 leaders of the opposition to military rule have had their citizenship terminated because they had allegedly fled the country and harmed the national interest.

It targeted eight members of the shadow National Unity Government, which views itself as the country's legitimate ruling authority, and three prominent activists.

The NUG was established by elected legislators who were barred from taking their seats when the military seized power in February last year, ousting the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Resistance to the takeover has now led to what some U.N. experts have characterized as a civil war.

At least two members of the NUG Cabinet named in the announcement responded on Twitter on Saturday.

Aung Myo Min, the human rights minister who has been traveling in Europe to seek support for Myanmar resistance movement, said the announcement was illegal because the military council is not the legitimate government.

"Ceasing citizenship of Cabinet members by terrorist military junta is just a joke. Nothing can stop our love to our country," Aung Myo Min wrote.

The group's foreign minister, Zin Mar Aung, wrote that "Just because coupmakers pretending to be a government and strip away my citizenship does not make me love Myanmar less. They do not have the rights to strip people's citizenship away."

The other eight opposition Cabinet members named in the military's announcement have been charged with high treason, which carries a potential death penalty, and other political offenses.

The three activists were Min Ko Naing, a leader of a failed 1988 uprising against a previous military dictatorship, Eaint Poe Ou, also known as Pencilo, and Myo Yan Naung Thein.

The "Termination of Citizenship" announcement said it was issued according to the 1982 Myanmar citizenship law and that "similar perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted."

Most NUG leaders are believed to be in hiding in border areas controlled by armed ethnic minority groups sympathetic to them, while others operate from abroad.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

BREAKING

BREAKING At least 4 cabinet ministers not running for re-election: sources

Federal Cabinet Minister Filomena Tassi announced Tuesday she will not run for re-election, and sources tell Â鶹´«Ã½ at least three other cabinet ministers don't plan to run again. Their decisions will prompt a cabinet shuffle for which a date has not been set. It is likely to occur in the coming weeks, according to senior government sources.

An Ontario woman is feeling uneasy after she received a sextortion email demanding she pay the fraudster US$1,900 in Bitcoin or risk having compromising photographs of herself shared with her loved ones.

The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development is investigating after an employee was found deceased at a Cambridge grocery store.

Local Spotlight

A Manitoba professor is warning the public after a book on regional mushrooms that he suspects is AI-generated was delisted from Amazon.

A B.C. judge has issued a decision in a years-long dispute between neighbours that began with a noise complaint over barking dogs, crowing roosters and quacking ducks – awarding $15,000 in damages to the plaintiffs in the case.

An Ottawa man was arrested after taking a shower in a stranger's house, Ottawa police say.

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) Chef Paul Natrall, the man behind Indigenous food truck Mr. Bannock, is bringing cooking classes on First Nations fare to schools and offices throughout Metro Vancouver.

The Celtic Colours Festival is taking place at venues around Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia from Oct. 11 to 19.

Sometimes love is written in the stars, but for one couple, it’s written in the aurora borealis.

Canadian hip hop artist Dillan King says running 100 marathons in 100 days was not only the hardest thing he has ever done, but the 'proudest accomplishment' of his entire life.

James Taylor never expected to be walking home with a bag full of groceries he didn't buy.

This weekend marks the fifth anniversary of a large blizzard that paralyzed Manitoba.