14 men were sentenced to death in Ayeyarwady Region in the months of September and October 2023, according to local sources.

The men were sentenced to death by the Pyapon District Judge under Section 302 - 1 (b) of the Penal Code, for allegedly being involved with people’s defence forces (PDFs).

A family member of one of the men sentenced to death said: “The Military Council forces and the police allege that they [the sentenced men] were involved with PDFs. Though the 14 men were allowed to have legal counsel their attempts to defend the men were ineffective. They were given the death penalty as the military had demanded. All of them have the right to appeal their death sentences.”

The death sentences were handed down on three different occasions.

On 12 September 2023, Pyae Sone Phyoe, Zaw Win Tun, Min Thu Aung, and Naing Wai Lin, all residents of Bogale Township, were sentenced to death.

On 28 September 2023, Win Htay and Kyaw Moe Lwin from Bogale Township, and Wai Yan Kyaw from Maupin Township were sentenced to death.

On 20 October 2023, Wanna Tun, San Lin San, Ko Ko Aung, Kyaw San Oo, Thura Phyoe (aka Watote), Tun Tun Oo (aka Sanay), and Aung Moe Myint (aka Aye Min Thu) from Pyapon Township were sentenced to death.

All the men were arrested in Maupin and Pyapon Townships in 2022. When they were arrested junta Telegram channels and the junta-aligned Myawaddy and MRTV television channels said the men were associated with PDFs.

At the time, no local revolutionary forces issued any statements about the men’s arrests, nor were they able to confirm the arrests when Mizzima reached out to them.

A Pyapon political activist said: “The 14 men who received the death penalty are not associated with the PDFs. Some of them were involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and protests. I think they may have been mistreated during interrogation, which led to them making false confessions,”

After their arrests, the men were held in Pyapon and Maupin prisons. After being sentenced to death they were moved to Pathein Prison where they are being held in solitary confinement, according to a member of the prison staff.

According to a report by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a total of 163 pro-democracy activists have received death sentences since the military coup.