Suspects in preparation of assassination attempt on Myanmar’s representative to the United Nations Zhuo Mo Tong detained in the United States

The United States will try two Myanmar citizens detained for plotting the assassination of the country’s representative to the United Nations, Zhuo Mo Tong. Washington considers the incident to be another attack on democratic values ​​by authoritarian regimes.

The Attorney General’s Office for the Southern District of New York said law enforcement officials detained two Myanmar citizens who were plotting the assassination of diplomat Zhuo Mo Tong. They were tasked with organizing the attack from an arms dealer in Thailand who maintains ties with the Myanmar military who seized power. According to his instructions, the detainees were to find people who would beat Zhuo Mo Tong. In the event that the diplomat began to persist and refused to leave the post, he should have been killed, transfers TASS. The suspects received 4 thousand dollars as an advance payment.

Fio Hein Htut, 28, and Ye Hein Zou, 20, are suspected of plotting the assassination. They face five years in prison.

Zhou Mo Tung told CNN learned about the preparation of the crime last Tuesday. He passed this information to US law enforcement agencies. Now the FBI and NYPD have taken the diplomat under round-the-clock security.

“The United States expresses solidarity with Permanent Representative Zhuo Mo Tong, who is courageously championing the interests of the people of Myanmar, who demand a return to democracy. said in connection with the incident, the permanent representative of the United States to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “Fortunately, this plan, which was supposed to be carried out in the United States, was prevented, and the suspects were detained and brought to justice. We unanimously condemn the threat to Permanent Representative Zhuo Mo Tong. “

According to Thomas-Greenfield, this incident was one example of how “authoritarian leaders and their supporters around the world, including in the United States, persecute journalists, activists and all those who speak out or act against them.” At the same time, the Permanent Representative of the United States recalled scandal with the Belarusian sportswoman Kristina Timanovskaya, who “miraculously managed to escape from the clutches of Lukashenka’s regime thanks to the rapid intervention of Japanese law enforcement agencies and the Polish authorities who had granted her asylum.”

A month ago, the US authorities prevented the kidnapping of an American journalist of Iranian origin Masih Alinejad. They probably wanted to take him to Iran and go to jail for criticizing the local authorities.

“We will continue to confront transnational repression wherever it occurs,” added Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Zho Mo Tun, previously refused to recognize the military who came to power in his country. He has repeatedly called on the international community to impose sanctions and an arms embargo against the military junta in Myanmar. In response, the military who seized power announced that they were sending Zhuo Mo Tong into retirement. Not trusting the diplomatic corps, they also recalled 100 diplomats from embassies in 19 countries.

The military command of Myanmar on February 1 announced the introduction of a state of emergency for a year and the removal of the country’s civilian leadership. Army officials attributed this to large-scale fraud, which they claim took place in the November 2020 general parliamentary elections. Then the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, and before the election campaign, had a majority in parliament based on the results of the 2015 elections, strengthened its position and gained full control of the elected seats in both chambers (according to the Myanmar constitution, a quarter of the seats in the upper and lower houses of parliament countries belong to the military, and the military deputies occupying them are appointed by the command of the armed forces). At the same time, the Party of Solidarity and Development of the Union, created by the military, whose deputies usually voted in solidarity with the military deputies, received a historical minimum of seats.

Since the beginning of February, protests against the displacement of the civilian government have continued in the country. More than 900 people were killed in clashes with security officials.