New York, New York – Two Myanmar nationals were arrested in the state of New York on accusations of plotting a violent assault on Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations, prosecutors said in a statement on Friday.

The two men, aged 28 and 20, lived in New York and "conspired to injure or kill Myanmar's permanent representative to the United Nations," according to allegations laid out in the complaint.

They are each charged with one count of conspiracy to assault and make a violent attack upon a foreign official, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, the New York prosecutors said.

Myanmar's military seized power on February 1. They ousted the civilian government, imposed a state of emergency, and violently cracked down on anti-coup protesters.

Kyaw Moe Tun was appointed Myanmar's representative to the UN in 2018 and is staunchly opposed to the military coup.

From his post in New York City, the ambassador has repeatedly called for support from the international community to help oust the junta.

The UN still considers him Myanmar's official envoy, even though he was fired by the military rulers in February.

One of the men arrested was said to have had contact with an arms dealer in Thailand who sells weapons to the military in Myanmar.

In the course of those conversations, it was agreed that attackers would be hired "to hurt the ambassador in an attempt to force the ambassador to step down from his post," the statement said.

If he had refused, the hired assailants "would kill the ambassador."

The other suspect had transferred money for the planned crime.

"I'm horrified by news that a supplier of weapons to the Myanmar military allegedly paid two Myanmar nationals to harm or kill UN Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun in New York in a plot to pressure him to relinquish his post," the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said in a tweet.

"Who was behind this outrage and who will hold them accountable," Andrew asked.