BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — 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.

The male university students were sentenced to death by a military court behind closed doors on Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement.

Local media reports said the Yangon-based university students were arrested in April and accused of involvement in a bank shooting.

"By resorting to use death sentences as a political tool to crush opposition, the military confirms its disdain for the efforts by ASEAN and the international community at large to end violence and create the conditions for a political dialogue to lead Myanmar out of a human rights crisis created by the military," Turk said.

"The military continues to hold proceedings in secretive courts in violation of basic principles of fair trial and contrary to core judicial guarantees of independence and impartiality," Turk said.

He said the secret tribunal hearings sometimes last just minutes and those detained often don't have access to lawyers or their families.

"Imposing the death penalty on students is an act of vengeance by the military," Dagon University's student union said in a statement.

The UN is also investigating reports another four youth activists were also sentenced to death on Thursday.

A junta spokesperson did not respond to calls from outside Myanmar seeking confirmation of the latest death sentences. The United Nations accused it of using capital punishment as a "tool to crush opposition."

Myanmar has been in chaos since Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government was toppled in a military coup in February 2021, ending the southeast Asian nation's brief period of democracy.