U.S. prosecutors announced on Friday that they have charged two Myanmar nationals with conspiring to attack Myanmar's UN ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, who supports the pro-democracy movement in his country and refused military junta orders to resign. Officials stated that U.S. investigators thwarted an alleged conspiracy involving the suspects attempting to hire individuals to either force Kyaw Moe Tun to resign or kill him if he refused. Audrey Strauss, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated that the defendants "conspired to injure or kill the Myanmar Ambassador to the United Nations in an attack on a foreign official that would have occurred on U.S. soil." Jacqueline Maguire, acting assistant director of the FBI, revealed that U.S. authorities acted "swiftly and seriously" after receiving information about the potential assassination plot planned in Westchester County, north of New York City, where the ambassador resides. The bureau received information about the scheme on Tuesday, according to court documents. Maguire stated, "Our laws apply to everyone in our country, and the two men will now face the consequences of their alleged violations of those laws." The charges against Vyu Htin Htut (28 years old) and Yee Htinn Zaw (20 years old) could lead to a sentence of five years in federal court in Westchester.
The nature of any connection between the suspects and the ruling military group in Myanmar, which ousted the elected government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, remains unclear. Prosecutors stated that Vyu Htin Htut had been in contact with an arms dealer in Thailand who had dealings with the Burmese army. They communicated via FaceTime while Vyu Htin Htut was inside Myanmar's mission at the United Nations in New York, according to the criminal complaint. The complaint included photographs of what appears to be an amount of $4,000 sent in July through an online payment app from Yee Htinn Zaw to Vyu Htin Htut as a potential advance payment for the assassination.
Kyaw Moe Tun made headlines after Myanmar's coup by sending greetings to pro-democracy protesters from the UN, openly defying the military junta's insistence that he no longer represents the country. He told AFP on Wednesday that he is under threat, and security measures for him have been increased. More than 900 people have been killed in Myanmar as the army seeks to suppress anti-coup protests, according to a local monitoring group. Kyaw Moe Tun has repeatedly called for international intervention to help end the unrest and restore the civilian government in Myanmar. In a letter this week, he called for an international arms embargo against the military junta, which maintains good relations with neighboring China.
