Myanmar coup latest: NLD members risk treason charges

After grabbing power, junta threatens death penalty for elected MPs

9:30 a.m. The Global New Light of Myanmar, a state newspaper that serves as a government mouthpiece, publishes an official statement declaring the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), or the Committee of Representatives to the Union Parliament, to be illegal.

The CRPH is mainly made up of members of the National League for Democracy elected to parliament in a landslide general election victory in November, and has described itself as a "provisional government." The NLD is led by Suu Kyi, who served as de facto head of state from 2016 in the specially created position of state counselor -- an office already abolished by the State Administration Council, the ruling junta.

The announcement warns that attempts to act "like public administrative organizations" violate Section 122 of the penal code "for high treason ... to be punished with death or transportation for life or 22 years of imprisonment." The CRPH on Tuesday appointed nine acting ministers, including foreign minister, a position previously held by Suu Kyi.

The State Administration Council is the official name of the junta that seized power in a coup on Feb. 1. 

After seizing power unlawfully on Feb. 1, the State Administration Council, Myanmar's new junta, has announced that elected members of parliament who created the CRPH, a "provisional government," risk being charged with high treason and could face the death penalty.

1:15 a.m. "The messages and measures of the international community should be conducive for the parties in Myanmar to bridge differences and resolve problems, and avoid escalating tensions or further complicating the situation," China's permanent representative to the United Nations says in a statement after Security Council consultations.

Reiterating that China is "a friendly neighbor of Myanmar," Ambassador Zhang Jun says the international community should support dialogue and reconciliation "on the premise of respecting Myanmar's sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity and national unity."

"The military and various political parties are all members of the Myanmar family, and should all take up the historical responsibility of maintaining the country's stability and development," Zhang says.

Zhang Jun, China's ambassador to the United Nations, speaks at a Security Council meeting in 2020.   © Reuters

1:00 a.m. Estonia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Sven Jurgenson, says his country "continues to strongly condemn the military coup in Myanmar and the violent repression by the Myanmar security forces against peaceful protesters."

"Estonia reiterates that there needs to be accountability for all those responsible for violations of international human rights law," the ambassador says in a statement on the U.N. Security Council consultations on Myanmar. "It is important to immediately secure the safe and unhindered access to humanitarian aid to ensure that the basic needs of the most vulnerable groups, including Rohingya and populations in Chin, Kachin, Rakhine, and Shan state."

Estonia is one of the current non-permanent members of the Security Council.

Myanmar Coup - Nikkei Asia