Myanmar families plea for help after seven students sentenced to death

In this file photo taken on July 07, 2021, protesters hold a banner that reads "Fight by keeping spirits of 7 July up, destroy the dictatorship from the root by all means" while another holds the Myanmar Student Union flag during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon. - The Myanmar junta handed out at least seven more death sentences this week, taking the tally of those on death row to 139, according to the United Nations. - AFP

YANGON, Dec 6 (Reuters): Relatives of some of the seven Myanmar students sentenced to death by a closed court in the military-ruled country called on Tuesday for global help, as critics slammed the ruling as a new bid by the junta to stamp out dissent.

The students, all under 25 years old, were sentenced by a military court for their alleged involvement in a shooting in April that killed a former military officer. They are among more than 130 people put on death row since the military seized power in a coup last year, according to the United Nations.