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The EU on Monday imposed sanctions on 11 high-ranking Myanmar military and administration officials who stand accused of orchestrating a military coup in early February.
Ten of the targeted individuals are from Myanmar’s armed forces, including the commander-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, the deputy-commander-in-chief, Soe Win, and other top generals. The 11th person on the sanctions list is Thein Soe, who was put in charge of an election commission after the coup and swiftly canceled the results of the country’s most recent democratic elections, held last November.
The penalties come nearly two months after Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, took over the country’s civilian government by force, removing civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint from office. The EU and other countries such as the U.S. and U.K. immediately condemned the move, labeling it a coup.
Monday’s sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes. Already earlier this month, the EU had suspended financial assistance to the country’s government over the coup.
In a statement, the Council of the EU said the bloc was weighing further punishments targeting the country’s military.
“The EU will continue to review all of its policy options, including additional restrictive measures against economic entities owned or controlled by the military in Myanmar/Burma,” the statement said. “At the same time, the EU aims to ensure that its measures do not have an adverse effect on the general population.”
Since 2018, the EU has adopted other sanctions on the Myanmar military in response to its atrocities against the Rohingya population, a mostly-Muslim ethnic minority group in the country. As part of its punishments, the EU cut off cooperation with the Myanmar military, enhanced its arms embargo on the organization and imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 14 military officials.
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