WASHINGTON: The United States announced sanctions Wednesday against two adult children of Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing over the military coup and subsequent violence against protesters in the Southeast Asian nation.
“Treasury took these actions in response to the Burmese military’s coup against the democratically elected civilian government of Burma and its brutal killing of peaceful protesters,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi last month, triggering daily protests around the country to demand the return of democracy.
The junta leader’s children, Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon, have a variety of business holdings, which have directly benefitted from their “father’s position and malign influence”, the statement said.
As a result of the sanctions, any assets they may have in the United States will be frozen.
The United States has already imposed sanctions on top figures including Min Aung Hlaing, the military chief and new ruler of the country, and other leaders of the junta.
“Burmese security forces, at the behest of military leaders, have brutally and lethally attacked unarmed protesters… since the coup. We condemn these horrific attacks,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
He added that the latest sanctions were “to promote accountability for those responsible for the coup, and to target those who benefit financially from their connections to the military regime.”
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