The G7 group of world’s major economic powers and the EU on Wednesdayreleased a joint statement to denounce the coup in Myanmar and called onthe military to release all those “unjustly detained”.

“We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, theUnited Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representativeof the European Union, are united in condemning the coup in Myanmar,” thejoint statement said.

The foreign ministers criticized the detention of political leaders andcivil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi andPresident Win Myint, and also voiced concern over military’s actionsagainst media organizations.

“We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency,restore power to the democratically elected government, to release allthose unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law,”the statement said.

“The November election results must be respected and parliament should beconvened at the earliest opportunity.”

G7 states, EU jointly condemn coup in Myanmarlink

The foreign ministers also recalled their 2019 communique, in which theyrestated their commitment to Myanmar’s democratic transition, peace andaccountability for human rights violations and abuses.

“We stand with the people of Myanmar who want to see a democratic future,”the ministers said.

Myanmar’s military, officially known as the Tatmadaw, declared a state ofemergency on Monday, hours after detaining the country’s de facto leaderSuu Kyi and other senior members of the ruling National League forDemocracy (NLD) party.

The coup took place hours before the first session of the country’s newparliament was set to convene following elections last November in whichSuu Kyi’s NLD party made sweeping gains.

The military claimed the coup was staged due to “election fraud” in thepolls, which it said resulted in the dominance of the NLD in the parliament.