The executions of four men including prominent democracy activists Phyo Zeya Thaw and Kyaw Min Yu (Ko Jimmy) by the junta drew criticism from around the world on Monday after they were announced.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) released a statement that condemned the "outrageous crime" and said: "The National League for Democracy is devastated".

The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell "strongly" condemned the Myanmar junta's "politically motivated" executions of four prisoners.

"The European Union strongly condemns the executions," Borrell said in a statement. "These politically motivated executions represent yet another step towards the complete dismantling of the rule of law and a further blatant violation of human rights in Myanmar."

In a statement on its Twitter account, the U.S. embassy in Yangon said: "We condemn the military regime's execution of pro-democracy leaders and elected officials for exercising their fundamental freedoms."

France "strongly condemned" the executions, calling them "a major regression" for the country's military regime.

A statement from the French Foreign Ministry said: "Even though no execution has taken place in the country for more than 30 years, these executions constitute a major regression and another phase in the escalating atrocities committed by the Burmese junta since the coup d'etat."