>> a quick check of the headlines. european union nations have agreed to russian gas supplies after russia announced another cut to deliverers. they will voluntarily reduce gas use from august to march. anti-e.u. leaders are accusing moscow of playing politics -- but eu leaders are accusing moscow of playing politics. >> consumption will be cut from

august to march. this percentage is the target. all member states should strive for this. >> russia has launched more missile strikes on the coast of ukraine. president zelenskyy says it is a residential area with no military asset. russia says they will quit the iss after 2024. moscow will shift focus to building their own states -- their own space station. the u.s. expresses regrets. imf has changed their global growth forecast to just over 3%. higher food and energy prices are expected to push up inflation more than expected. but they say measures can be taken to mitigate the worst impact. >> the outlook has darkened

significantly since april and the world might soon be teetering on the edge of a global recession only two years after the last one. multilateral cooperation will be key in many areas. amid great challenges, strengthening cooperation remains the best way to improve prospects for all and mitigate the risk of fragmentation. >> u.s. firefighters say they are making progress in battling california wildfires. the oak fire started friday and has destroyed an area half the size of san francisco. thousands have been removed from their homes. a heat wave and drought has fueled the blaze. those with the headlines. the news will continue here on al jazeera after inside story.

♪ bernard: there's global outrage after myanmar executed four pro-democracy prisoners its military junta has brushed away criticism. can international pressure stop such killings, and what are the chances of myanmar returning to democracy? this is "inside story." ♪ hello. welcome to the program. i'm bernard smith. the execution of four prominent

pro-democracy activists in myanmar has sparked anger in the country and abroad. the military junta which took power in a coup last year had accused the men of conspiring to commit acts of terror. the activists including several high-profile opposition figures were tried in secret military courts. news of the executions triggered condemnation from the united states, the european union, britain, australia, and the united nations, as well as a rare rebuke from the association of southeast asian nations, and hundreds of people protested outside myanmar's embassy in bangkok. we'll bring in our guests shortly but this update from first, tony and bangkok. tony: reaction to the execution of four political prisoners inside myanmar by the military junta has been shock and horror . hundreds of people took to the streets of bangkok to protest outside myanmar's embassy there have been statements of condemnation from the u.n.

secretary general, the u.s. secretary of state, and politicians across the eu. a little less condemnation here in the region of south east asia although malaysia's foreign minister did say this was a crime against humanity, but to a certain extent, the association of southeast asian nations has tried to engage the myanmar military to try and curb their excesses. this will be seen very much as a slap in the face. and a rare comment from myanmar's military on the executions at a press conference in answer to a question from local media. they said they had nothing personal against these men and they had been given every opportunity to prove their innocence. that said, their trials took place in a military court in secret, a process many people deemed to be very unfair. the feeling of unhappiness is also being seen on the streets of myanmar. flash mobs taken to the streets of yangon and mandalay, many of

the main cities demonstrating their anger and calling for revenge. that is the big concern, that with this conflict getting worse and worse since the military coup in 2021, the conflict will just get worse. tony cheng for "inside story." bernard: malaysia's foreign minister spoke out against the myanmar executions at a press conference in kuala lumpur. >> takes place about less than two weeks after the special envoy visited epidural and just about a week before the asean foreign minister's meeting in phnom penh, so we look at it that as if the junta is making a mockery of the five-point consensus, and i think we really have to look at this very, very seriously. myanmar should not be invited to send political representation to

all ministry level meetings. this is to show we are very serious on the issue of political representation. bernard: the junta spokesperson says the executions were legal . >> we knew that there may be criticism and objections when the death penalties were handed down and conducted in accordance with domestic law, however we did it for reasons of domestic stability for the rule of law and order and security. it is not personal. it was done legally. these criminals were given the chance to defend themselves the verdicts of the trials were based on eyewitnesses and facts, if we compare their sentences with other death penalty cases , they have committed crimes for which they should have been given many death sentences. bernard: myanmar's military seized power from the civilian government in february last year

. since then it's been accused of widespread human rights violations. tom andrews has accused its army of deliberately targeting children, with nearly killed or injured since the coup. amnesty international says last year saw a worrying rise in death sentences with nearly 90 people put on death row. the u.n. human rights commission says security forces have shown a blatant disregard for life while the army denies the accusations. and at least a quarter of a million people have been displaced since the military took power last year. ♪ let's bring in our guests. minka nighthouse is a freelance journalist and author, she knew two of the activists who were executed and has covered their journey extensively. in geneva, a campaigns officer at burma campaign uk and

daughter of one of the generation student leaders. indent park we have a senior researchers focusing on justice and security at the danish institute for international studies. welcome to you. a difficult subject today. minka, are you surprised that the army went ahead with these executions? minka: i was very concerned that this time they would be very serious about it, even though death sentences haven't been carried out for the last 30 years. but before the execution there were already rumors and news circulated deliberately that it was going to happen or had already and it seemed to be a testing the waters for what the reaction would be. i became concerned when i heard

that some family members had been given a chance to talk with the prisoners online. that is an indication that execution is about to be carried out. bernard: are you surprised that the executions were carried out? >> it is heartbreaking. we kept thinking they wouldn't do it because it's not in the military interest to carry out the execution after decades of not having done so. but this is a sign that the military is very desperate because even over a year of the attempted coup, i say attempted because they have not able to consolidate power or control the general population that has been standing up against them. this is a sign of desperation and they've tried to use fear to

stop a revolution on the ground. but in reality it has a opposite effect. bernard: i see you nodding. is this a sign of desperation for the military? >> i agree. it's part of instilling increasing fear and terror in the population, warning the resistance fighters that they will go as far as they can to stop the resistance and will not bend to international pressure. i agree it's a sign of weakness on the battlefield in terms of territory control and in terms of not being able to run the state. the economy is in ruins. what we've been researching over the past year or so is also how soldiers within the ranks of the military itself are increasingly demoralized. there's a growing fatigue, we see a gradual increase of

defectors over this past year as well, so even within its own ranks there are weaknesses and a sense of chaos. bernard: make that you have covered myanmar for 30 years. do you agree this? do you see this as a sign of weakness? minka: i think when the military seized power on the first of february 2021 they expected that they would get back control easily or by using brute force as they have for decades. we are seeing the complete opposite. after months of peaceful protests and very brutal violence by the security forces it hasn't worked. there are still daily protests. large amounts of people are still on strike.

and there are militant groups now operating in various parts of the country as well as the several armies of the ethnic groups who have been fighting for more autonomy and equal rights in what they hope to be a federal state. so the military really is finding itself in uncharted waters here and has to fight on so many fronts nowadays and i think that that is also where there is an element of anger and revenge on the people who have been executed, that it was not only meant to terrorize the population, it was also an expression of revenge. bernard: minka, you knew two of the men and their families. can you tell me about them? minka: i wish we had the whole program to talk about them. there is so much to say. both of them are very highly respected activists and veterans .

jimmy came to fame in 1998 protests against the regime. he is a member of the 88th generation and between his first arrest on his release and 2012 he spent almost 20 years in jail . every time he came out of jail he showed he was still committed and advocating democracy, human rights and a free country. he also was known for doing a lot of social activities to address the ills in the society . for example when there was a crisis of displaced people, he would do humanitarian work.

and josé was about 10 years younger. he came to fame as releasing the first hip-hop album that really galvanized as generation that was deprived of freedom and hunger for a better life and less poverty. he decided what he did wasn't enough and he established an underground youth movement. then he was imprisoned. bernard: and two other men were executed as well. we have heard about the bravery it takes to do flash mobs. is there a way to hold me in mars military accountable -- to

hold myanmar military accountable? >> yes. we've been telling the international community to refer burma to the international criminal court and even countries who are supposedly interested in human rights like the u.k. and the u.s. are hesitant to do so. we have a case going on for genocide at the icj and countries like the britain can join that as a part of the accountability process for the military because we believe after all the the international community helped create the cycle of impunity felt by the burmese military because it's been decades they've been getting away with human rights violations, genocide against the rohingya, and if they get away with this state execution, the worry is that they will continue to execute 90 other political prisoners on death row. we don't want that. these people were wrongfully accused and tried without proper

judicial process and should not be in jail. bernard: in terms of holding military accountable asean has , been totally ineffective here . the strategy of attempting to engage the military has not worked. >> their own chair told the commander-in-chief not carry out the executions. and there is now a statement of disappointment. it's a clear sign that the five-point statement that was or consensus that was agreed upon in april last year that was mentioned earlier has simply not been followed by the military . the id they would bring together the different parties has not worked. people on the ground in myanmar have consistently said that every time asean comes and

visits, it legitimizes. it's part of the fear of the form of normalization. it plans to hold elections in 2023 and this could be part of the normalization. so it's really important the international community steps up probably. at the moment it's not enough. in the un's security council, china and russia are protecting the military so there is a need to find another course to show action. bernard: the cambodian prime minister has been humiliated.

he was the one who resisted condemnation of burma while maybe singapore, the philippines and malaysia have been outspoken. he resisted trying to persuade them to not carry out executions and they ignored it. >> there was a policy of noninterference but i hope this is a lesson for them that the military is not something you want to engage in. since the coup, the military has shown over and over that they don't care about international law or agreement. they keep killing and arresting people and these four executions are the ones we know of and they are well known but there are so many unlawful killings happening at the detention center. these happen every day. what kind of military would be interested in engagement while they keep committing human

rights violations? so it is time for proper and effective action rather than going along with the military and trying to make them respect human rights. it won't happen. bernard: from your experience do you see anything they could do to make the military return to democracy? minka: i think asean used to have this policy of considering the situations in countries internal affairs. but at the same time there is some leverage here if they can have the political will. it was really a very important step for myanmar to become a member of asean and and asean is not happy to have a black sheep in its middle and every single international gathering surely they will be called up on what they are going to do about the

situation in myanmar. so it all has to do with political will. they can also do more to engage with the various groups that now form the opposition. the government of national unity established by elected members of parliament who were dismissed by the military. so there are other venues to ask -- to be explored. i think the military regime is aware that the international community is busy with the situation in ukraine and russia and they're trying to see how far they can get with these brutal acts. bernard: help us understand about the people's defense

forces. how effective are they and how effective could they be? >> it's hard to answer but we know there are around 400 of the people's defense forces that work hard to recognize. in the past before the crew the main battles or resistance against the military was in the ethnic border areas but we also see very very strong people's defense forces in burmese majority areas in sakai and other regions. it makes a huge difference from previously in myanmar's history of conflict and this could make a huge difference from before because the military has to fight on so many fronts and that's also why what i said earlier is that its combat units are now getting tired out they -- tired. they don't get rest. they are losing the belief in what they are fighting for.

because a broad sector of the population is resisting them. it's the population where the soldiers are from. so they are fighting on all these fronts at the same time, including alliances with the ethnic armed organizations that have been fighting the military that has experienced fighting the military. and we are already seeing defections. bernard: the people's defense forces came out of the peaceful protests that came out after the coup last year. they claim to control more than 50% of myanmar territory. is that realistic? >> we have seen the people defense forces are growing in berm. they came out of peaceful protests because i felt -- they

felt it was the only way to defend themselves. the military has more advanced technology and weapons so on the ground the people defense forces, the military is losing but on the fighter jet fried, military is using fighter jets to bomb civilian and ethnic areas. that's part of why human rights activists are calling for sanctions on aviation fuel because if we stop supplying the aviation fuel to burma then they won't be able to fly these fighter jets to bomb people in ethnic areas as well as people who are operating people defense forces. bernard: minka, is too much put into the people's defense forces? are they really any match for the myanmar army?

make the: it's not just about military strength. it's the fact there are armed groups in various parts of the countries including very close or even in urban areas that give the military regime a sense of insecurity and fear. and that is unprecedented did -- unprecedented in recent history. pdf will tell you they lack weapons but morale is high. that's a factor to take into account. bernard: we often hear a call for the people's defense forces, that they are short of weapons. should an outside organization or country be arming them? >> a lot of people are asking

for arms but also for humanitarian help. most of them don't have any funding for food and other essentials. so burma is not only facing a human rights problem but we are also facing a huge humanitarian crisis in the country. so i think the international community and outside organization should be helping people in the country,, allow cross-border aid so people in burma can live and they have food and essentials to operate. international community support is important. bernard: how do you see the best

way to combat in myanmar? >> to unite the forces against the military unit. we have seen forms of unification we haven't seen historically before in myanmar but there are also challenges there are also differences amongst those resisting the military unit so if people can stand together and the ethnic armed organization can join hands with the people's defense forces and also the political entities from the ethnic minorities and the national unity government, i think that is definitely the best way forward seeing from inside myanmar. and this should be supported from the outside as well. bernard: thank you. we are out of time. thank you to all of our guests. and thank you as well for watching. you can see the program again anytime by visiting our website aljazeera.com, and for more debate go to our facebook page. that's facebook.com/aj insidestory. you can also join the conversation on twitter.

we are @ajinsidestory. from me, bernard smith, and the entire team here in doha, bye for now. ♪ ■é■ío o @8@8@8

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