Supporters of the military junta in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/facebook-bans-myanmar-military-junta-from-its-platforms-366100">Myanmar</a> clashed with anti-military protesters in Yangon on Thursday.&nbsp;

Watch:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/your-story-myanmar-military-junta-threatens-to-take-actions-against-media-portals-365751/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Reports claimed at least 1,000 supporters of the military gathered in central Yangon with some wielding knives with signs carrying "we stand with the defence services", referring to the junta even as residents banged pots and pans in protest during the pro-junta demonstration.

Reports claimed clashes were also reported near Yangon central railway station&nbsp;compound as slingshots from cars were fired by the pro-military supporters.

Yangon University students took out a march carrying the red flags of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy(NLD) party.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/japan-finalising-plans-to-halt-fresh-aid-to-myanmar-says-report-366083">Myanmar </a>has witnessed protests ever since the military coup on February 1. The country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi and several NLD party leaders were arrested as the military rulers took over the country while imposing a state of emergency for one year.

Four anti-coup protesters have been killed in the crackdown as authorities have targeted demonstrations and several have been arrested. The military has reported the death of at least one police officer.

Amid the protests, Indonesia officials held "intensive" talks with the Myanmar military and representatives of the ousted government.

Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi met Myanmar's foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin for talks in Bangkok. The military has declared it will hold elections but it hasn't put a timeline.

Several countries have condemned the coup, with Britain and the United States imposing sanctions against Myanmar's military rulers.

Supporters of the military junta in Myanmar clashed with anti-military protesters in Yangon on Thursday. Watch: Reports claimed at least 1,000 supporters of the military gathered in central Yangon with some wielding knives with signs carrying "we stand with the defence services", referring to the junta even as residents banged pots and pans in protest during the pro-junta demonstration.

Supporters of the military junta in Myanmar clashed with anti-military protesters in Yangon on Thursday. Watch: Reports claimed at least 1,000 supporters of the military gathered in central Yangon with some wielding knives with signs carrying "we stand with the defence services", referring to the junta even as residents banged pots and pans in protest during the pro-junta demonstration. Reports claimed clashes were also reported near Yangon central railway station compound as slingshots from cars were fired by the pro-military supporters. Yangon University students took out a march carrying the red flags of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy(NLD) party. Myanmar has witnessed protests ever since the military coup on February 1. The country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi and several NLD party leaders were arrested as the military rulers took over the country while imposing a state of emergency for one year. Four anti-coup protesters have been killed in the crackdown as authorities have targeted demonstrations and several have been arrested. The military has reported the death of at least one police officer. Amid the protests, Indonesia officials held "intensive" talks with the Myanmar military and representatives of the ousted government. Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi met Myanmar's foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin for talks in Bangkok. The military has declared it will hold elections but it hasn't put a timeline. Several countries have condemned the coup, with Britain and the United States imposing sanctions against Myanmar's military rulers.

Pro-military supporters clash with protesters in Myanmar's Yangon

Demonstrating for the third week their determination to force the country’s military to return to its barracks, protesters in Myanmar appear to be learning lessons from a decade of protest in the Middle East and North Africa.

By the same token, Myanmar’s protesters, in stark contrast to public silence about the military’s brutal repression of the Rohingya minority in recent years, seem to want to forge a national identity that supersedes past emphasis on ethnicity and/or religion.

In doing so, they, like their counterparts in Lebanon and Iraq, reject sectarian policies that allowed elites to divide and rule and distract attention from economic and social grievances held by all segments of the population.

As they resist the military’s February 01 coup that nullified a democratic election won in November in a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) because of alleged electoral fraud, protesters confront many of the same obstacles that demonstrators in &nbsp;Thailand, Turkey, Sudan, and Algeria face.

The ability to address desperately needed reforms with buy-in from the military will shape a return to democracy and the sustainability of the transition. Taking military concerns into account reforms will have to include civilian control of the military, defining the military’s mission in national defence rather than ideological terms, and regulating the armed forces’ vast economic interests.

The Middle East and North Africa provide cautionary tales like Egypt that eight years after a coup has become a brutal dictatorship and Libya, Syria and Yemen that are wracked by war, as well as potential models, that would serve Myanmar’s democratisation well.

Tunisia, the one Arab country to have pushed political transition relatively successful, was able to do so because Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Tunisian autocrat who was overthrown in 2011, had ensured that the military had no vested interest in the country’s political system.

Mr Ben Ali decimated the military leadership, severely cut the budget of the armed forces early on in his 24-year rule and sidelined the military, relying instead on security forces and law enforcement. As a result, the military effectively stood aside when protesters staged mass anti-government demonstrations.

The positioning of Tunisia’s armed forces may not offer Myanmar immediate options, but it highlights the need for a military that understands itself as a national institution rather than a party with vested political and economic interests.

Of more immediate importance to Myanmar is the fact that Mr Ben Ali as well as the leaders of Egypt, Libya and Yemen were toppled by an informal alliance between civil society and either faction of the military or the armed forces as a whole. They shared a short-term interest in removing the incumbent from power.

The same is true for Southeast Asia’s people power revolts in the Philippines and Indonesia in the 1980s and 1990s. In Myanmar, it was the military that opted for a degree of political liberalization following decades of intermittent mass protest.

It took Tunisian civil society’s engagement with the security forces as well as other segments of society and the existing power structure to nurture the democratization process. By contrast, the process was derailed in much of the Middle East by a post-revolt breakdown of the alliance, often aggravated and/or manipulated by external forces.

The Tunisian approach enabled all parties to manage the inevitable divergence of interests once Mr Ben Ali had been toppled, juxtaposing civil society’s quest for wholesale political and economic reform with the security forces’ insistence on the preservation of their economic and political interests and rescue of as much of the ancien regime as possible.

In Tunisia, like in other post-revolt countries, the divergence kicked in the moment the incumbent was removed. The Middle East and Southeast Asia’s experience demonstrates that the pitfalls are embedded in the compromises made to establish a transitionary government.

Inevitably, the military and/or security forces either constitute the transition government or are a powerful part of it. Their track record is one of taking liberties in protecting their interests.

Like in Myanmar this month, the military crosses red lines when the transition endangers those prerogatives. Learning how to counter the pitfalls of perilous but inevitable cooperation with at least segments of the military and/or security forces is a work in progress.

Turkey provides a different set of lessons. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s turn towards repression and authoritarianism in the wake of a failed military coup in 2016 suggests that civilian control does not offer a magic wand even if the takeover was foiled by protesters who set aside their social, ideological, and political differences.

If this is a cautionary tale, Turkey also offers solutions to at least one of the issues: the military’s economic interests. Turkey’s military, even before the imposition of civilian control, put its economic house in order by creating a conglomerate, one of the country’s largest, that is owned by the military pension fund and subject to regulation, civic and commercial law, and markets like any other privately held institution.

As civil obedience in Myanmar persists, protesters have certain advantages.

Rather than being on their own, the protesters benefit from being at the forefront of a wave of defiance and dissent that for the past decade and no doubt the next is fueled by a breakdown in confidence in political systems and leadership.

With the pandemic, the widespread mismanagement of public health responses, the global economic downturn and dislocation, and technological change, the coming decade promises to be perhaps even more turbulent.

In addition, Myanmar protesters’ may be beneficiaries of the electoral defeat of US President Donald Trump and the rise of Joe Biden, who has pledged to make human rights a central plank of his foreign policy.

Granted, US adherence in its foreign policy to its human rights values has at the best of times been checkered.

Nonetheless, Mr Biden’s approach, even if imperfectly applied, erases the permissive environment that autocrats enjoyed during the Trump years.

There is, moreover, a reason to believe that Mr Biden will be truer to his pledge because it is key to US efforts to repair the credibility and reputational damage suffered by the United States because of Mr Trump’s America First policy; disdain for multilateralism, international institutions, and international law; empathy with autocrats; and disregard for human rights.

Playing into Mr Biden’s emphasis on human rights is the fact that the protests, like in Lebanon and Iraq, appear to have broken down ethnic and religious fault lines.

Yangon’s usually hidden Rohingya community has openly joined the protests four years after detained democratically elected Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi stood by and later defended the military’s ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, more than 700,00 of which fled to Bangladesh.

Burmese who in recent years used Twitter to attack and threaten Rohingya activists living in exile have apologized since the February coup, recognizing that military rule poses a threat to all.

Political transition, like reconciliation, is a long-drawn-out process that can take up to half a century to play out. It is a process of two steps forward and steps backwards as Myanmar is discovering now. &nbsp;

The Myanmar military understands that tacit Russian and Chinese support may not be as much of a lifesaver as it was in the past. That may explain the military’s reluctance to crush the protests even if the likelihood of an imminent crackdown is high.

If the experience of Egypt is anything to go by, the military can brutally suppress and keep a lid on unrest for a period of time. It may preserve the military’s interests for a while, but it cannot provide sustainable economic solutions or ensure stability.

In contrast to Egypt, protesters in Myanmar have the advantage that they are demanding recognition of a current election outcome that could put a new government in a position to redefine the role of the military and regulate its economic interests.

Based on the experience of Egypt, one core bone that the government would likely have to throw the military is immunity against prosecution for past crimes. That may be a bitter pill to swallow and violate principles of truth and accountability as an important pillar of transition.

As Egypt demonstrates, it offers no guarantee of keeping the military in its barracks, but it may be the carrot that helps entice the military to make the concessions needed for a democratic transition.

For now, Myanmar cries out for non-partisan independents capable of helping the military and the protesters to back away from a zero-sum game that seems destined to result in bloodshed.

That is likely to prove a gargantuan task as Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi spearheads efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to mediate a way back from the brink.

In the words of former International Crisis Group Myanmar analyst Morten B. Pedersen “when a military obsessed with order and stability…confronts an essentially leaderless popular movement driven by youthful anger and shattered hopes, compromise is perhaps the hardest thing of all.”

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

Demonstrating for the third week their determination to force the country’s military to return to its barracks, protesters in Myanmar appear to be learning lessons from a decade of protest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Demonstrating for the third week their determination to force the country’s military to return to its barracks, protesters in Myanmar appear to be learning lessons from a decade of protest in the Middle East and North Africa. By the same token, Myanmar’s protesters, in stark contrast to public silence about the military’s brutal repression of the Rohingya minority in recent years, seem to want to forge a national identity that supersedes past emphasis on ethnicity and/or religion. In doing so, they, like their counterparts in Lebanon and Iraq, reject sectarian policies that allowed elites to divide and rule and distract attention from economic and social grievances held by all segments of the population. As they resist the military’s February 01 coup that nullified a democratic election won in November in a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) because of alleged electoral fraud, protesters confront many of the same obstacles that demonstrators in Thailand, Turkey, Sudan, and Algeria face. The ability to address desperately needed reforms with buy-in from the military will shape a return to democracy and the sustainability of the transition. Taking military concerns into account reforms will have to include civilian control of the military, defining the military’s mission in national defence rather than ideological terms, and regulating the armed forces’ vast economic interests. The Middle East and North Africa provide cautionary tales like Egypt that eight years after a coup has become a brutal dictatorship and Libya, Syria and Yemen that are wracked by war, as well as potential models, that would serve Myanmar’s democratisation well. Tunisia, the one Arab country to have pushed political transition relatively successful, was able to do so because Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Tunisian autocrat who was overthrown in 2011, had ensured that the military had no vested interest in the country’s political system. Mr Ben Ali decimated the military leadership, severely cut the budget of the armed forces early on in his 24-year rule and sidelined the military, relying instead on security forces and law enforcement. As a result, the military effectively stood aside when protesters staged mass anti-government demonstrations. The positioning of Tunisia’s armed forces may not offer Myanmar immediate options, but it highlights the need for a military that understands itself as a national institution rather than a party with vested political and economic interests. Of more immediate importance to Myanmar is the fact that Mr Ben Ali as well as the leaders of Egypt, Libya and Yemen were toppled by an informal alliance between civil society and either faction of the military or the armed forces as a whole. They shared a short-term interest in removing the incumbent from power. The same is true for Southeast Asia’s people power revolts in the Philippines and Indonesia in the 1980s and 1990s. In Myanmar, it was the military that opted for a degree of political liberalization following decades of intermittent mass protest. It took Tunisian civil society’s engagement with the security forces as well as other segments of society and the existing power structure to nurture the democratization process. By contrast, the process was derailed in much of the Middle East by a post-revolt breakdown of the alliance, often aggravated and/or manipulated by external forces. The Tunisian approach enabled all parties to manage the inevitable divergence of interests once Mr Ben Ali had been toppled, juxtaposing civil society’s quest for wholesale political and economic reform with the security forces’ insistence on the preservation of their economic and political interests and rescue of as much of the ancien regime as possible. In Tunisia, like in other post-revolt countries, the divergence kicked in the moment the incumbent was removed. The Middle East and Southeast Asia’s experience demonstrates that the pitfalls are embedded in the compromises made to establish a transitionary government. Inevitably, the military and/or security forces either constitute the transition government or are a powerful part of it. Their track record is one of taking liberties in protecting their interests. Like in Myanmar this month, the military crosses red lines when the transition endangers those prerogatives. Learning how to counter the pitfalls of perilous but inevitable cooperation with at least segments of the military and/or security forces is a work in progress. Turkey provides a different set of lessons. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s turn towards repression and authoritarianism in the wake of a failed military coup in 2016 suggests that civilian control does not offer a magic wand even if the takeover was foiled by protesters who set aside their social, ideological, and political differences. If this is a cautionary tale, Turkey also offers solutions to at least one of the issues: the military’s economic interests. Turkey’s military, even before the imposition of civilian control, put its economic house in order by creating a conglomerate, one of the country’s largest, that is owned by the military pension fund and subject to regulation, civic and commercial law, and markets like any other privately held institution. As civil obedience in Myanmar persists, protesters have certain advantages. Rather than being on their own, the protesters benefit from being at the forefront of a wave of defiance and dissent that for the past decade and no doubt the next is fueled by a breakdown in confidence in political systems and leadership. With the pandemic, the widespread mismanagement of public health responses, the global economic downturn and dislocation, and technological change, the coming decade promises to be perhaps even more turbulent. In addition, Myanmar protesters’ may be beneficiaries of the electoral defeat of US President Donald Trump and the rise of Joe Biden, who has pledged to make human rights a central plank of his foreign policy. Granted, US adherence in its foreign policy to its human rights values has at the best of times been checkered. Nonetheless, Mr Biden’s approach, even if imperfectly applied, erases the permissive environment that autocrats enjoyed during the Trump years. There is, moreover, a reason to believe that Mr Biden will be truer to his pledge because it is key to US efforts to repair the credibility and reputational damage suffered by the United States because of Mr Trump’s America First policy; disdain for multilateralism, international institutions, and international law; empathy with autocrats; and disregard for human rights. Playing into Mr Biden’s emphasis on human rights is the fact that the protests, like in Lebanon and Iraq, appear to have broken down ethnic and religious fault lines. Yangon’s usually hidden Rohingya community has openly joined the protests four years after detained democratically elected Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi stood by and later defended the military’s ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, more than 700,00 of which fled to Bangladesh. Burmese who in recent years used Twitter to attack and threaten Rohingya activists living in exile have apologized since the February coup, recognizing that military rule poses a threat to all. Political transition, like reconciliation, is a long-drawn-out process that can take up to half a century to play out. It is a process of two steps forward and steps backwards as Myanmar is discovering now. The Myanmar military understands that tacit Russian and Chinese support may not be as much of a lifesaver as it was in the past. That may explain the military’s reluctance to crush the protests even if the likelihood of an imminent crackdown is high. If the experience of Egypt is anything to go by, the military can brutally suppress and keep a lid on unrest for a period of time. It may preserve the military’s interests for a while, but it cannot provide sustainable economic solutions or ensure stability. In contrast to Egypt, protesters in Myanmar have the advantage that they are demanding recognition of a current election outcome that could put a new government in a position to redefine the role of the military and regulate its economic interests. Based on the experience of Egypt, one core bone that the government would likely have to throw the military is immunity against prosecution for past crimes. That may be a bitter pill to swallow and violate principles of truth and accountability as an important pillar of transition. As Egypt demonstrates, it offers no guarantee of keeping the military in its barracks, but it may be the carrot that helps entice the military to make the concessions needed for a democratic transition. For now, Myanmar cries out for non-partisan independents capable of helping the military and the protesters to back away from a zero-sum game that seems destined to result in bloodshed. That is likely to prove a gargantuan task as Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi spearheads efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to mediate a way back from the brink. In the words of former International Crisis Group Myanmar analyst Morten B. Pedersen “when a military obsessed with order and stability…confronts an essentially leaderless popular movement driven by youthful anger and shattered hopes, compromise is perhaps the hardest thing of all.” (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

Opinion- Myanmar: Exploiting lessons learnt in the Middle East

Myanmar military continued its internet blackout for the eighth consecutive day ahead of another day of planned protests on Monday.

Watch:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="http://13.235.153.162/videos/myanmar-thousands-took-to-the-streets-of-yangon-despite-bloodshed-and-violence-365190/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

At least three protesters were killed on Saturday which marked the deadliest day of nationwide protests which has continued for over two weeks.

Protesters in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/facebook-deletes-main-page-of-myanmar-military-365128">Yangon</a>, Monywa and Myitkyina held candlelight vigils to pay tribute to the dead as the military continued its crack down against the demonstrators.

Mandalay and Yangon have become the epicentre of protests with demonstrators clashing with authorities. Myanmar's military had replaced the democratic government on February 1 in a coup as it arrested pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top leaders of her NLD party.

The protesters have been demanding a return to democracy and freedom for Suu Kyi, however, the military has continued its clampdown and declared a state of emergency for one year, although they have promised to hold elections without setting a date.

The military has accused voter fraud in the November elections which was won by Suu Kyi's NLD party.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the use of "deadly violence" against the crowd, saying: "The use of lethal force, intimidation &amp; harassment against peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable."

Canada, Britain and the United States had earlier sanctioned the Myanmar generals even as European Union foreign ministers are set to meet on Monday to discuss measures against Myanmar's military regime.

Myanmar military continued its internet blackout for the eighth consecutive day ahead of another day of planned protests on Monday. Watch: At least three protesters were killed on Saturday which marked the deadliest day of nationwide protests which has continued for over two weeks.

Myanmar military continued its internet blackout for the eighth consecutive day ahead of another day of planned protests on Monday. Watch: At least three protesters were killed on Saturday which marked the deadliest day of nationwide protests which has continued for over two weeks. Protesters in Yangon, Monywa and Myitkyina held candlelight vigils to pay tribute to the dead as the military continued its crack down against the demonstrators. Mandalay and Yangon have become the epicentre of protests with demonstrators clashing with authorities. Myanmar's military had replaced the democratic government on February 1 in a coup as it arrested pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top leaders of her NLD party. The protesters have been demanding a return to democracy and freedom for Suu Kyi, however, the military has continued its clampdown and declared a state of emergency for one year, although they have promised to hold elections without setting a date. The military has accused voter fraud in the November elections which was won by Suu Kyi's NLD party. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the use of "deadly violence" against the crowd, saying: "The use of lethal force, intimidation & harassment against peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable." Canada, Britain and the United States had earlier sanctioned the Myanmar generals even as European Union foreign ministers are set to meet on Monday to discuss measures against Myanmar's military regime.

Internet blackout continues amid crack down against protesters in Myanmar

Anti-coup protesters on Monday defied military junta's warning to take to streets. Businesses around the country observed a general strike. There were protests in cities and towns across the country on Monday, from the northern hills on the border with China to the central plains, the Irrawaddy river delta and the southern panhandle.

Images posted on social media showed a police water cannon truck and numerous other vehicles closing in to break up a procession of chanting people in Naypyitaw, where the military is headquartered. As the protesters scattered, police on foot chased them, wrestling several to the ground.

"They're chasing and arresting us. We're just protesting peacefully," one woman said in video clip posted on Facebook.

The protests have been going on daily ever since the military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's government on February 1. The military has been unable to stop the protests.

Three people have lost lives so far. Two were shot dead in Mandalay on Saturday. Funeral of the third protester, a young woman, was carried out on Sunday. It drew hundreds of people.

"Everyone is joining this," said San San Maw, 46, at the Hledan junction in the main city of Yangon, which has become a rallying point for the protests. "We need to come out."

In a country where dates are seen as auspicious, protesters noted the significance of the date 22.2.2021, comparing it with demonstrations on Aug. 8, 1988 when a previous generation staged anti-military protests which were bloodily suppressed.

Military's response so far has been less deadly. The army also said one policeman died of injuries in the protest.

"Stop the repression"

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on Myanmar military to stop the "repression" immediately.

"Today, I call on the Myanmar military to stop the repression immediately. Release the prisoners. End the violence. Respect human rights, and the will of the people expressed in recent elections," Guterres told the UN Human Rights Council in a pre-recorded video message.

Guterres has been increasingly vocal about situation in Myanmar.

'RESTRAINT'

As well as local stores, international chains announced closures on Monday, including Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC and delivery service Food Panda, owned by Delivery Hero. Southeast Asian company Grab stopped delivery services too but left its taxis running.

Authorities were "exercising utmost restraint", the foreign ministry said in a statement. It rebuked some countries for remarks it described as flagrant interference in Myanmar's internal affairs.

Several Western countries have condemned the coup and decried the violence against protesters.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter the United States would continue to "take firm action" against authorities violently cracking down on opponents of the coup in the Southeast Asian country that is also known as Burma.

"We stand with the people of Burma," he said.

Britain, Germany, Japan and Singapore have also condemned the violence and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said lethal force was unacceptable.

(With Reuters inputs)

Anti-coup protesters on Monday defied military junta's warning to take to streets. Businesses around the country observed a general strike. There were protests in cities and towns across the country on Monday, from the northern hills on the border with China to the central plains, the Irrawaddy river delta and the southern panhandle.

Anti-coup protesters on Monday defied military junta's warning to take to streets. Businesses around the country observed a general strike. There were protests in cities and towns across the country on Monday, from the northern hills on the border with China to the central plains, the Irrawaddy river delta and the southern panhandle. Images posted on social media showed a police water cannon truck and numerous other vehicles closing in to break up a procession of chanting people in Naypyitaw, where the military is headquartered. As the protesters scattered, police on foot chased them, wrestling several to the ground. "They're chasing and arresting us. We're just protesting peacefully," one woman said in video clip posted on Facebook. The protests have been going on daily ever since the military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's government on February 1. The military has been unable to stop the protests. Three people have lost lives so far. Two were shot dead in Mandalay on Saturday. Funeral of the third protester, a young woman, was carried out on Sunday. It drew hundreds of people. "Everyone is joining this," said San San Maw, 46, at the Hledan junction in the main city of Yangon, which has become a rallying point for the protests. "We need to come out." In a country where dates are seen as auspicious, protesters noted the significance of the date 22.2.2021, comparing it with demonstrations on Aug. 8, 1988 when a previous generation staged anti-military protests which were bloodily suppressed. Military's response so far has been less deadly. The army also said one policeman died of injuries in the protest. "Stop the repression" UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on Myanmar military to stop the "repression" immediately. "Today, I call on the Myanmar military to stop the repression immediately. Release the prisoners. End the violence. Respect human rights, and the will of the people expressed in recent elections," Guterres told the UN Human Rights Council in a pre-recorded video message. Guterres has been increasingly vocal about situation in Myanmar. 'RESTRAINT' As well as local stores, international chains announced closures on Monday, including Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC and delivery service Food Panda, owned by Delivery Hero. Southeast Asian company Grab stopped delivery services too but left its taxis running. Authorities were "exercising utmost restraint", the foreign ministry said in a statement. It rebuked some countries for remarks it described as flagrant interference in Myanmar's internal affairs. Several Western countries have condemned the coup and decried the violence against protesters. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter the United States would continue to "take firm action" against authorities violently cracking down on opponents of the coup in the Southeast Asian country that is also known as Burma. "We stand with the people of Burma," he said. Britain, Germany, Japan and Singapore have also condemned the violence and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said lethal force was unacceptable. (With Reuters inputs)

Myanmar: Protesters defy military's lethal warning to take to streets again

Huge crowds marched in Myanmar on Sunday to denounce a February 1 military coup in a show of defiance after the bloodiest episode of the campaign for democracy the previous day, when security forces fired on protesters, killing two.

The military has been unable to quell the demonstrations and a civil disobedience campaign of strikes against the coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others, even with a promise of new elections and stern warnings against dissent.

In the main city of Yangon, thousands of mostly young people gathered at different sites to chant slogans and sing.

In Myitkyina in the north, people laid flowers for the dead protesters. Big crowds marched in the central towns of Monywa and Bagan, in Dawei and Myeik in the south, Myawaddy in the east and Lashio in the northeast.

Thousands lined the route of the procession to pay tribute to Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, who was shot in the head two days before her 20th birthday at a protest demanding the release of Suu Kyi.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/facebook-deletes-main-page-of-myanmar-military-365128">Also read |&nbsp;Facebook deletes main page of Myanmar military</a>

The grocery store worker was kept on life support for 10 days but succumbed to her wounds on Friday, making her the first protester killed for participating in the massive civil disobedience campaign sweeping the country.

State media claimed on Sunday that an autopsy of Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing's body showed the bullet was not fired by police officers. It also claimed she was "throwing stones" at security forces at the protest.

But Amnesty International said footage of the incident showed that "police recklessly targeted protesters, with no respect for their lives or safety".

A rights group said 569 people have been detained in connection with the coup.

At the tourist spot of Inle Lake, people including Buddhist monks took to a flotilla of boats holding aloft portraits of Suu Kyi and signs saying "military coup - end".

The more than two weeks of protests had been largely peaceful until Saturday, unlike previous episodes of opposition during nearly half a century of direct military rule to 2011. The violence looked unlikely to end the agitation.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the strikers sabotaged boats at the city`s river port and attacked police with sticks, knives and catapults. Eight policemen and several soldiers were injured.

Suu Kyi`s National League for Democracy (NLD) condemned the violence by security forces in Mandalay as a crime against humanity.

The army seized power after alleging fraud in November 8 elections that the NLD swept, detaining Suu Kyi and others. The electoral commission dismissed the fraud complaints.

Facebook deleted the military's main page for repeated violations of its standards "prohibiting incitement of violence and coordinating harm" and Western countries that condemned the coup decried the violence.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was "deeply concerned". France, Singapore, Britain and Germany also condemned the violence while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said lethal force was unacceptable.

The United States, Britain and others have announced limited sanctions, focussing on military leaders, but the generals have long shrugged off foreign pressure.

Suu Kyi faces a charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law as well as illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Her next court appearance is on March 1.

(with inputs from agencies)

Huge crowds marched in Myanmar on Sunday to denounce a February 1 military coup in a show of defiance after the bloodiest episode of the campaign for democracy the previous day, when security forces fired on protesters, killing two.

Huge crowds marched in Myanmar on Sunday to denounce a February 1 military coup in a show of defiance after the bloodiest episode of the campaign for democracy the previous day, when security forces fired on protesters, killing two. The military has been unable to quell the demonstrations and a civil disobedience campaign of strikes against the coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others, even with a promise of new elections and stern warnings against dissent. In the main city of Yangon, thousands of mostly young people gathered at different sites to chant slogans and sing. In Myitkyina in the north, people laid flowers for the dead protesters. Big crowds marched in the central towns of Monywa and Bagan, in Dawei and Myeik in the south, Myawaddy in the east and Lashio in the northeast. Thousands lined the route of the procession to pay tribute to Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, who was shot in the head two days before her 20th birthday at a protest demanding the release of Suu Kyi. Also read | Facebook deletes main page of Myanmar military The grocery store worker was kept on life support for 10 days but succumbed to her wounds on Friday, making her the first protester killed for participating in the massive civil disobedience campaign sweeping the country. State media claimed on Sunday that an autopsy of Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing's body showed the bullet was not fired by police officers. It also claimed she was "throwing stones" at security forces at the protest. But Amnesty International said footage of the incident showed that "police recklessly targeted protesters, with no respect for their lives or safety". A rights group said 569 people have been detained in connection with the coup. At the tourist spot of Inle Lake, people including Buddhist monks took to a flotilla of boats holding aloft portraits of Suu Kyi and signs saying "military coup - end". The more than two weeks of protests had been largely peaceful until Saturday, unlike previous episodes of opposition during nearly half a century of direct military rule to 2011. The violence looked unlikely to end the agitation. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the strikers sabotaged boats at the city`s river port and attacked police with sticks, knives and catapults. Eight policemen and several soldiers were injured. Suu Kyi`s National League for Democracy (NLD) condemned the violence by security forces in Mandalay as a crime against humanity. The army seized power after alleging fraud in November 8 elections that the NLD swept, detaining Suu Kyi and others. The electoral commission dismissed the fraud complaints. Facebook deleted the military's main page for repeated violations of its standards "prohibiting incitement of violence and coordinating harm" and Western countries that condemned the coup decried the violence. US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was "deeply concerned". France, Singapore, Britain and Germany also condemned the violence while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said lethal force was unacceptable. The United States, Britain and others have announced limited sanctions, focussing on military leaders, but the generals have long shrugged off foreign pressure. Suu Kyi faces a charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law as well as illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Her next court appearance is on March 1. (with inputs from agencies)

Myanmar, undeterred by worst day of violence, continues to protest and grieve

Two people have died from gunshot wounds after security forces opened fire at protesters in Myanmar's second largest city Mandalay on Saturday.

According to multiple reports, about 30 others were injured. Half of the injured people were shot with live rounds.

One of the victims was a boy who was shot in the head. A second man was shot in the chest and died later.

Protesters took to the streets in several cities and towns with members of ethnic minorities, poets and transport workers among those demanding an end to military rule and the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others.

But tension escalated quickly in Mandalay where police and soldiers were confronting striking shipyard workers and other protesters. 
Some of the demonstrators fired catapults at police as they played cat and mouse through riverside streets. Police responded with tear gas and gun fire, though it was initially not clear if they were using live ammunition or rubber bullets.

A young woman protester died on Friday after being shot in the head last week as police dispersed a crowd in the capital, Naypyitaw, the first death among anti-coup demonstrators.

The army says one policeman died of injuries sustained in a protest.

The demonstrators are demanding the restoration of the elected government and the release of Suu Kyi and others. They have also called for the scrapping of a 2008 constitution that has assured the army a major role in politics since nearly 50 years of direct military rule ended in 2011.

The army seized back power after alleging fraud in November 8 election that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept, detaining her and others. The electoral commission had dismissed the fraud complaints.

Earlier on Saturday, several thousand protesters gathered in the northern town of Myitkyina and confronted lines of police before dispersing.

Crowds also marched again peacefully through the ancient capital of Bagan and in Pathein in the Irrawaddy river delta, pictures on social media showed.

Suu Kyi faces a charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law as well as illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Her next court appearance is on March 1.

(with inputs from agencies)

Two people have died from gunshot wounds after security forces opened fire at protesters in Myanmar's second largest city Mandalay on Saturday. According to multiple reports, about 30 others were injured.

Two people have died from gunshot wounds after security forces opened fire at protesters in Myanmar's second largest city Mandalay on Saturday. According to multiple reports, about 30 others were injured. Half of the injured people were shot with live rounds. One of the victims was a boy who was shot in the head. A second man was shot in the chest and died later. Protesters took to the streets in several cities and towns with members of ethnic minorities, poets and transport workers among those demanding an end to military rule and the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others. But tension escalated quickly in Mandalay where police and soldiers were confronting striking shipyard workers and other protesters. Some of the demonstrators fired catapults at police as they played cat and mouse through riverside streets. Police responded with tear gas and gun fire, though it was initially not clear if they were using live ammunition or rubber bullets. A young woman protester died on Friday after being shot in the head last week as police dispersed a crowd in the capital, Naypyitaw, the first death among anti-coup demonstrators. The army says one policeman died of injuries sustained in a protest. The demonstrators are demanding the restoration of the elected government and the release of Suu Kyi and others. They have also called for the scrapping of a 2008 constitution that has assured the army a major role in politics since nearly 50 years of direct military rule ended in 2011. The army seized back power after alleging fraud in November 8 election that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept, detaining her and others. The electoral commission had dismissed the fraud complaints. Earlier on Saturday, several thousand protesters gathered in the northern town of Myitkyina and confronted lines of police before dispersing. Crowds also marched again peacefully through the ancient capital of Bagan and in Pathein in the Irrawaddy river delta, pictures on social media showed. Suu Kyi faces a charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law as well as illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Her next court appearance is on March 1. (with inputs from agencies)

Two people killed in Myanmar anti-coup protest shooting

Security forces fired live rounds at protesters in Myanmar's second largest city after a police raid at a shipyard turned violent on Saturday, leaving at least six wounded.

"Six men with gunshot wounds arrived to our team. Two are seriously injured," a medical aide to the doctors said.

Much of the country has been in uproar since the military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1, with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets to protest against the junta.&nbsp;

Authorities have since arrested hundreds of people. Many of these detainees are civil servants who had been boycotting work as part of a civil disobedience campaign.

On Saturday, hundreds of police gathered at Yadanarbon shipyard in Mandalay, on the Irrawaddy river.&nbsp;

When protesters started yelling at the police to leave, police opened fire with rubber bullets and slingshot balls, dispersing the alarmed protesters and leaving at least six injured.

Since the nationwide protests started two weeks ago, authorities in some cities have deployed tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets against demonstrators.

There have been isolated incidents of live rounds in the capital Naypyidaw.

A young woman protester died on Friday after being shot in the head last week as police dispersed a crowd in the capital, Naypyitaw, the first death among anti-coup demonstrators.

The army says one policeman died of injuries sustained in a protest.

On Saturday, young people in the main city of Yangon carried a wreath and laid flowers at a memorial ceremony for the woman, Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, while a similar ceremony took place in Naypyitaw.

The demonstrators are demanding the restoration of the elected government, the release of Suu Kyi and others and the scrapping of a 2008 constitution, drawn up under military supervision, that gives the army a major role in politics.

Insurgencies by ethnic minority forces seeking autonomy have simmered since Myanmar's independence from Britain in 1948, and the army has long proclaimed itself the only institution capable of preserving national unity.

Suu Kyi, 75, like the top generals, is a member of the majority Burman community.

Her government promoted a peace process with insurgent groups but she faced a storm of international criticism over the plight of the Muslim Rohingya minority after more than 700,000 fled a deadly 2017 army crackdown.

Insurgent groups that have signed a national ceasefire made clear their opposition to army rule, saying in a statement they would aim to "coordinate with local and foreign forces" and the international community to "eliminate dictatorship".

The army seized back power after alleging fraud in November 8 election that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept, detaining her and others. The electoral commission had dismissed the fraud complaints.

The protests have so far been more peaceful than the bloodily suppressed demonstrations during nearly 50 years of direct military rule up to 2011.

Suu Kyi faces a charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law as well as illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Her next court appearance is on March 1.

(with inputs from agencies)

Security forces fired live rounds at protesters in Myanmar's second largest city after a police raid at a shipyard turned violent on Saturday, leaving at least six wounded.

Security forces fired live rounds at protesters in Myanmar's second largest city after a police raid at a shipyard turned violent on Saturday, leaving at least six wounded. "Six men with gunshot wounds arrived to our team. Two are seriously injured," a medical aide to the doctors said. Much of the country has been in uproar since the military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1, with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets to protest against the junta. Authorities have since arrested hundreds of people. Many of these detainees are civil servants who had been boycotting work as part of a civil disobedience campaign. On Saturday, hundreds of police gathered at Yadanarbon shipyard in Mandalay, on the Irrawaddy river. When protesters started yelling at the police to leave, police opened fire with rubber bullets and slingshot balls, dispersing the alarmed protesters and leaving at least six injured. Since the nationwide protests started two weeks ago, authorities in some cities have deployed tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets against demonstrators. There have been isolated incidents of live rounds in the capital Naypyidaw. A young woman protester died on Friday after being shot in the head last week as police dispersed a crowd in the capital, Naypyitaw, the first death among anti-coup demonstrators. The army says one policeman died of injuries sustained in a protest. On Saturday, young people in the main city of Yangon carried a wreath and laid flowers at a memorial ceremony for the woman, Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, while a similar ceremony took place in Naypyitaw. The demonstrators are demanding the restoration of the elected government, the release of Suu Kyi and others and the scrapping of a 2008 constitution, drawn up under military supervision, that gives the army a major role in politics. Insurgencies by ethnic minority forces seeking autonomy have simmered since Myanmar's independence from Britain in 1948, and the army has long proclaimed itself the only institution capable of preserving national unity. Suu Kyi, 75, like the top generals, is a member of the majority Burman community. Her government promoted a peace process with insurgent groups but she faced a storm of international criticism over the plight of the Muslim Rohingya minority after more than 700,000 fled a deadly 2017 army crackdown. Insurgent groups that have signed a national ceasefire made clear their opposition to army rule, saying in a statement they would aim to "coordinate with local and foreign forces" and the international community to "eliminate dictatorship". The army seized back power after alleging fraud in November 8 election that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept, detaining her and others. The electoral commission had dismissed the fraud complaints. The protests have so far been more peaceful than the bloodily suppressed demonstrations during nearly 50 years of direct military rule up to 2011. Suu Kyi faces a charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law as well as illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Her next court appearance is on March 1. (with inputs from agencies)

Shooting at Myanmar anti-coup protest injures at least six people

The 20-year-old woman protester who was shot in the head during anti-military protests in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/britain-canada-impose-sanctions-on-myanmar-generals-amid-protests-364685">Myanmar's</a> capital Naypyidaw has died, the hospital said on Friday.

Watch:

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Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing received head injuries after being shot as the police opened fire with live bullets. Khaing was in the intensive care unit since February 9.

Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing has become a symbol of resistance for the demonstrators who have been demanding a return to democracy after the military coup on February 1 which led to the arrest of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military has imposed a state of emergency for one year in the country after declaring voter fraud in the November elections which have been dismissed by protesters.

Canada and Britain imposed sanctions on Myanmar generals even as the US condemned the coup.

The 20-year-old woman protester who was shot in the head during anti-military protests in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw has died, the hospital said on Friday. Watch: Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing received head injuries after being shot as the police opened fire with live bullets.

The 20-year-old woman protester who was shot in the head during anti-military protests in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw has died, the hospital said on Friday. Watch: Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing received head injuries after being shot as the police opened fire with live bullets. Khaing was in the intensive care unit since February 9. Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing has become a symbol of resistance for the demonstrators who have been demanding a return to democracy after the military coup on February 1 which led to the arrest of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The military has imposed a state of emergency for one year in the country after declaring voter fraud in the November elections which have been dismissed by protesters. Canada and Britain imposed sanctions on Myanmar generals even as the US condemned the coup.

20-year-old protester shot in head in Myanmar dies in hospital

Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on Myanmar generals, as protests broke out for the second week against the military coup in the country.

Watch:

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The Quad group consisting of India, United States, Japan and Australia in a joint statement called for return to democracy in Myanmar.

"We’ve all agreed on the need to swiftly restore the democratic system (in Myanmar)," and to strongly oppose all unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force," Japan's foreign minister said.

Canada imposed sanctions against nine Myanmar military officials accusing them of "systemic campaign of repression through coercive legislative measures and use of force".&nbsp;

Britain, Canada and the United States have already imposed sanctions against Army chief General Min Aung Hlaing. The sanctions come amid large scale protests in Yangon, Myitkyina including in &nbsp;Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw.

The demonstrators have been demanding a return to democracy and freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi who has been under detention since February 1 when the military generals threw out the democratic leaders and imposed a state of emergency for one year.

The military has accused the November elections of being hit by voter fraud which was dismissed by election officials. Several NLD party leaders including activists have been arrested post the coup even as the military said a police officer died in Mandalay after a confrontation with protesters on Sunday.

Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on Myanmar generals, as protests broke out for the second week against the military coup in the country. Watch: The Quad group consisting of India, United States, Japan and Australia in a joint statement called for return to democracy in Myanmar.

Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on Myanmar generals, as protests broke out for the second week against the military coup in the country. Watch: The Quad group consisting of India, United States, Japan and Australia in a joint statement called for return to democracy in Myanmar. "We’ve all agreed on the need to swiftly restore the democratic system (in Myanmar)," and to strongly oppose all unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force," Japan's foreign minister said. Canada imposed sanctions against nine Myanmar military officials accusing them of "systemic campaign of repression through coercive legislative measures and use of force". Britain, Canada and the United States have already imposed sanctions against Army chief General Min Aung Hlaing. The sanctions come amid large scale protests in Yangon, Myitkyina including in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw. The demonstrators have been demanding a return to democracy and freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi who has been under detention since February 1 when the military generals threw out the democratic leaders and imposed a state of emergency for one year. The military has accused the November elections of being hit by voter fraud which was dismissed by election officials. Several NLD party leaders including activists have been arrested post the coup even as the military said a police officer died in Mandalay after a confrontation with protesters on Sunday.

Britain, Canada impose sanctions on Myanmar generals amid protests

A group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) protesters rallied on Yangon's streets against the military coup and ousting of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday (February 19).

Myanmar LGBTQ protesters take to streets against military coup

Most nights since a coup returned Myanmar to military rule on Feb. 1, a spectral symbol of protest has glowed on a mildewed side of a building.

Where the next illumination will appear in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, is a mystery. But, suddenly, a projected image appears in the dark. Three fingers raised in a rebellious pose. A dove of peace. The smiling face of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose government was ousted in the army putsch.

Watch |&nbsp;

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The projections are the brainchild of a filmmaker who wishes to remain anonymous as the military hunts down those who dare to defy it.

Armed with paintbrushes, poems and protest anthems, the creative classes are providing Myanmar’s mass uprising with an imaginative verve and rebellious spirit that has caught the military generals off guard.

During daily street rallies in the country’s major cities, the atmosphere often has the feel of a cultural carnival. Graffiti artists have spray-painted messages mocking Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief who staged the coup. Poets have declaimed in angry verse. A cartoonists’ union marched holding hand-drawn figures. Street dancers twirled with abandon.

On Wednesday, in the biggest single rally since street protests began in Yangon, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in a central district, holding up posters and signs designed for the Instagram generation.

“If we look at the history of resistance in Myanmar, we were quite aggressive and confrontational, with this history of bloodshed,” said Ko Kyaw Nanda, a graphic designer whose protest art contrasts green pig heads (the army) with ruby red heels (Suu Kyi). “With this new approach, it can be less risky for people, and more people can join.”

Myanmar’s military, which has ruled the nation for most of the past six decades, has locked up more than 450 people since the coup, according to a group that tracks political prisoners. The new regime has drastically diminished civil liberties, and its long history of violently suppressing dissent lingers. Security forces have shot and beaten anti-coup protesters. On Wednesday evening in the city of Mandalay, soldiers swept through an area housing railway workers who were boycotting work, shooting multiple rounds. At least one person was confirmed injured.

But the weapons of dictatorship have not deterred peaceful demonstrators, who have depended on humorous memes and protest art to carry them through. “If the young people are out on the street then why can’t I be?” said Nu Nu Win, a retired civil servant who at the rally Wednesday carried a laminated sign with the face of Suu Kyi. “I want the whole nation to be out from under dictatorship.”

Online art collectives have made their designs free so that protesters can print them out for signs, stickers or T-shirts. One of the most popular pieces shows a collection of hands arranged in the three-finger salute from “The Hunger Games” films. Each hand was drawn by a different artist, a mosaic of defiance.

As she watched the protests grow, a freelance graphic designer who goes by the artistic name Kuecool decided she wanted to contribute. Although she had illustrated a book on feminism, she had not considered herself overtly political during her years of working at a public relations agency.

The overthrow of the elected government by the military, which she had grown up disliking, shocked her. She began drawing into the night.

One of her images is now used often in the protest movement: a young woman in a traditional sarong brandishing a wok and a spatula. The background is crimson, the signature hue of the National League for Democracy, which was ejected from government despite winning two landslide electoral victories.

Every night at 8 p.m., cities across Myanmar have clanged with the din of people banging pots, pans, woks and anything else that makes a ruckus. The aim is to ward off the devil, and the projection art appears at this time, too, adding visuals to the clamor of discontent.

Myanmar’s military rulers have long seen menace in the arts, imprisoning poets, actors, painters and rappers. Among the dozens of people nabbed alongside Suu Kyi in the coup’s initial pre-dawn raids were a filmmaker, two writers and a reggae singer. A graffiti artist whose protest tags have enlivened Yangon over the past two weeks said he was on the run from the police. So were two poets. On Wednesday, arrest warrants were issued for actors, directors and a singer.

Zayar Thaw was a member of Generation Wave, a hip-hop collective that challenged the former ruling junta through sly lyrics. After serving five years in prison for his activism, he joined the National League for Democracy when it contested a by-election in 2012. Zayar Thaw won a parliamentary seat in a district once thought of as a military stronghold, settled down with reams of parliamentary paperwork and thought he had left his days of artistic protest behind him.

“Hip-hop artists already have a culture of revolution, so in our generation we protested through songs,” he said. “Now all kinds of artists are involved because they don’t want to lose the value of democracy.”

The artistic ferment in Myanmar today has drawn from other regional protest movements. During their months of sustained dissent in Hong Kong, young protesters enlivened their rallies with cute cartoons and colorful walls of sticky notes that evoked the so-called Lennon Wall in Prague, where art and messages of dissent against communism proliferated. Motivated by an earlier incarnation of opposition, the Hong Kong protesters popularized the use of the yellow umbrella against water cannons and turned it into a powerful meme.

In turn, the Hong Kong democracy movement galvanized pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand, who staged months of mass rallies last year. Encouraged by the power of whimsy in Hong Kong, the Thai protesters, who have been standing up to a prime minister who led a 2014 military coup, deployed inflatable rubber duck rafts to ward off water cannons. They popularized the use of “The Hunger Games” salute, which Thailand’s former junta initially tried to ban with their state of emergency powers. (Nobody really listened.)

A couple days after the putsch in Myanmar, doctors, who launched a civil disobedience movement that has now compelled about 750,000 people to stop going to work, flashed their three fingers in protest. The salute is now the leitmotif of the Myanmar rallies, along with signs in English — all the better to attract international attention — denouncing the military takeover.

“I got inspired by how Hong Kong and Thai protesters used creativity and humor in their protests,” said Kyaw Nanda, the graphic designer.

The crosscurrents of protest are flowing both ways. Last week, a Thai youth group adopted the pots and pans campaign from Myanmar for a protest in Bangkok.

“In the region, there is a fight for democracy, human rights and justice,” said Aye Ko, a painter in Myanmar whose art has long expressed political yearnings. “The movement is beyond one nation’s issue. We have all joined together in the resistance against oppression.”

 
&nbsp;

Most nights since a coup returned Myanmar to military rule on Feb. 1, a spectral symbol of protest has glowed on a mildewed side of a building. Where the next illumination will appear in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, is a mystery.

Most nights since a coup returned Myanmar to military rule on Feb. 1, a spectral symbol of protest has glowed on a mildewed side of a building. Where the next illumination will appear in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, is a mystery. But, suddenly, a projected image appears in the dark. Three fingers raised in a rebellious pose. A dove of peace. The smiling face of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose government was ousted in the army putsch. Watch | The projections are the brainchild of a filmmaker who wishes to remain anonymous as the military hunts down those who dare to defy it. Armed with paintbrushes, poems and protest anthems, the creative classes are providing Myanmar’s mass uprising with an imaginative verve and rebellious spirit that has caught the military generals off guard. During daily street rallies in the country’s major cities, the atmosphere often has the feel of a cultural carnival. Graffiti artists have spray-painted messages mocking Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief who staged the coup. Poets have declaimed in angry verse. A cartoonists’ union marched holding hand-drawn figures. Street dancers twirled with abandon. On Wednesday, in the biggest single rally since street protests began in Yangon, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in a central district, holding up posters and signs designed for the Instagram generation. “If we look at the history of resistance in Myanmar, we were quite aggressive and confrontational, with this history of bloodshed,” said Ko Kyaw Nanda, a graphic designer whose protest art contrasts green pig heads (the army) with ruby red heels (Suu Kyi). “With this new approach, it can be less risky for people, and more people can join.” Myanmar’s military, which has ruled the nation for most of the past six decades, has locked up more than 450 people since the coup, according to a group that tracks political prisoners. The new regime has drastically diminished civil liberties, and its long history of violently suppressing dissent lingers. Security forces have shot and beaten anti-coup protesters. On Wednesday evening in the city of Mandalay, soldiers swept through an area housing railway workers who were boycotting work, shooting multiple rounds. At least one person was confirmed injured. But the weapons of dictatorship have not deterred peaceful demonstrators, who have depended on humorous memes and protest art to carry them through. “If the young people are out on the street then why can’t I be?” said Nu Nu Win, a retired civil servant who at the rally Wednesday carried a laminated sign with the face of Suu Kyi. “I want the whole nation to be out from under dictatorship.” Online art collectives have made their designs free so that protesters can print them out for signs, stickers or T-shirts. One of the most popular pieces shows a collection of hands arranged in the three-finger salute from “The Hunger Games” films. Each hand was drawn by a different artist, a mosaic of defiance. As she watched the protests grow, a freelance graphic designer who goes by the artistic name Kuecool decided she wanted to contribute. Although she had illustrated a book on feminism, she had not considered herself overtly political during her years of working at a public relations agency. The overthrow of the elected government by the military, which she had grown up disliking, shocked her. She began drawing into the night. One of her images is now used often in the protest movement: a young woman in a traditional sarong brandishing a wok and a spatula. The background is crimson, the signature hue of the National League for Democracy, which was ejected from government despite winning two landslide electoral victories. Every night at 8 p.m., cities across Myanmar have clanged with the din of people banging pots, pans, woks and anything else that makes a ruckus. The aim is to ward off the devil, and the projection art appears at this time, too, adding visuals to the clamor of discontent. Myanmar’s military rulers have long seen menace in the arts, imprisoning poets, actors, painters and rappers. Among the dozens of people nabbed alongside Suu Kyi in the coup’s initial pre-dawn raids were a filmmaker, two writers and a reggae singer. A graffiti artist whose protest tags have enlivened Yangon over the past two weeks said he was on the run from the police. So were two poets. On Wednesday, arrest warrants were issued for actors, directors and a singer. Zayar Thaw was a member of Generation Wave, a hip-hop collective that challenged the former ruling junta through sly lyrics. After serving five years in prison for his activism, he joined the National League for Democracy when it contested a by-election in 2012. Zayar Thaw won a parliamentary seat in a district once thought of as a military stronghold, settled down with reams of parliamentary paperwork and thought he had left his days of artistic protest behind him. “Hip-hop artists already have a culture of revolution, so in our generation we protested through songs,” he said. “Now all kinds of artists are involved because they don’t want to lose the value of democracy.” The artistic ferment in Myanmar today has drawn from other regional protest movements. During their months of sustained dissent in Hong Kong, young protesters enlivened their rallies with cute cartoons and colorful walls of sticky notes that evoked the so-called Lennon Wall in Prague, where art and messages of dissent against communism proliferated. Motivated by an earlier incarnation of opposition, the Hong Kong protesters popularized the use of the yellow umbrella against water cannons and turned it into a powerful meme. In turn, the Hong Kong democracy movement galvanized pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand, who staged months of mass rallies last year. Encouraged by the power of whimsy in Hong Kong, the Thai protesters, who have been standing up to a prime minister who led a 2014 military coup, deployed inflatable rubber duck rafts to ward off water cannons. They popularized the use of “The Hunger Games” salute, which Thailand’s former junta initially tried to ban with their state of emergency powers. (Nobody really listened.) A couple days after the putsch in Myanmar, doctors, who launched a civil disobedience movement that has now compelled about 750,000 people to stop going to work, flashed their three fingers in protest. The salute is now the leitmotif of the Myanmar rallies, along with signs in English — all the better to attract international attention — denouncing the military takeover. “I got inspired by how Hong Kong and Thai protesters used creativity and humor in their protests,” said Kyaw Nanda, the graphic designer. The crosscurrents of protest are flowing both ways. Last week, a Thai youth group adopted the pots and pans campaign from Myanmar for a protest in Bangkok. “In the region, there is a fight for democracy, human rights and justice,” said Aye Ko, a painter in Myanmar whose art has long expressed political yearnings. “The movement is beyond one nation’s issue. We have all joined together in the resistance against oppression.”

Paint, poems and protest anthems: Myanmar's coup inspires the art of defiance

Demonstrators hold posters of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi during the ongoing protest against the military coup.

Myanmar: Protests show no signs of letting up

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-monks-march-seek-end-to-military-rule-364052">Myanmar</a> experienced another night of internet blackout as the net continued to be shut for the third consecutive day on Wednesday as protests continued against the military junta's coup.

Watch:

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Opponents of Myanmar's military coup called for big protests on Wednesday to show that the army's claim of widespread public support amid charges against leader<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-cops-file-new-charge-against-suu-kyi-to-extend-detention-indefinitely-364061"> Aung San Suu Kyi</a> who has been detained since February 1 when the military took control of the country in an early morning coup.

Suu Kyi faces charge of violating the Natural Disaster Management Law as well as charges of illegally importing six walkie talkie radios. Her case was held by video conference on Tuesday, her next hearing was set for March 1.

"Let’s gather in millions to take down the dictators," wrote activist Khin Sandar on Facebook.

Kyi Toe, a senior member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party who has not yet been arrested, said "let's march en masse. Let's show our force against the coup government that has destroyed the future of youth, the future of our country."

The Army's takeover has drawn strong Western criticism with renewed anger from the United States and the UK over additional charge for Suu Kyi. Although China has dismissed accusations it supported the coup.

Hundreds of people have been rounded up by the army since the coup many of them in night-time raids. Those arrested include several top NLD's senior leadership.

Reports say at least 450 people have been arrested since the coup earlier this month. A third night of internet blackout meant no news emerged of any arrests early on Wednesday.

The army had alleging voter fraud in the November 8 election which was rejected by the electoral&nbsp; commission. The military has declared a state of emergency for one year after taking over power.

"Our objective is to hold an election and hand power to the winning party," Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the ruling council, told the junta's first news conference since overthrowing Suu Kyi's government.&nbsp;

General Tun gave no time frame but said the army will not be in power for long.

The last stretch of army rule lasted nearly half a century before democratic reforms in 2011.

Myanmar experienced another night of internet blackout as the net continued to be shut for the third consecutive day on Wednesday as protests continued against the military junta's coup.

Myanmar experienced another night of internet blackout as the net continued to be shut for the third consecutive day on Wednesday as protests continued against the military junta's coup. Watch: Opponents of Myanmar's military coup called for big protests on Wednesday to show that the army's claim of widespread public support amid charges against leader Aung San Suu Kyi who has been detained since February 1 when the military took control of the country in an early morning coup. Suu Kyi faces charge of violating the Natural Disaster Management Law as well as charges of illegally importing six walkie talkie radios. Her case was held by video conference on Tuesday, her next hearing was set for March 1. "Let’s gather in millions to take down the dictators," wrote activist Khin Sandar on Facebook. Kyi Toe, a senior member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party who has not yet been arrested, said "let's march en masse. Let's show our force against the coup government that has destroyed the future of youth, the future of our country." The Army's takeover has drawn strong Western criticism with renewed anger from the United States and the UK over additional charge for Suu Kyi. Although China has dismissed accusations it supported the coup. Hundreds of people have been rounded up by the army since the coup many of them in night-time raids. Those arrested include several top NLD's senior leadership. Reports say at least 450 people have been arrested since the coup earlier this month. A third night of internet blackout meant no news emerged of any arrests early on Wednesday. The army had alleging voter fraud in the November 8 election which was rejected by the electoral commission. The military has declared a state of emergency for one year after taking over power. "Our objective is to hold an election and hand power to the winning party," Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the ruling council, told the junta's first news conference since overthrowing Suu Kyi's government. General Tun gave no time frame but said the army will not be in power for long. The last stretch of army rule lasted nearly half a century before democratic reforms in 2011.

Myanmar military blocks internet for third consecutive night amid protests

Swarms of thousands of protesters marched the streets in Myanmar on Wednesday while continuing to reject the army’s claims that the people support the coup.

The army asserted that people had given support to overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi. But the protesters vehemently deny this, while also reasserting that they will not give in to the military rule.

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The police recently filed a fresh charge Suu Kyi, which could extend her detention indefinitely. And critics of the coup do not readily trust assurances given by the junta.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate has been detained since the beginning of the coup. She now faces the charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law, along with charges of illegally importing six walkie talkie radios. The next hearing is scheduled for March 1.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/south-asia/myanmar-military-blocks-internet-for-third-consecutive-night-amid-protests-364140" hreflang="en">Myanmar military blocks internet for third consecutive night amid protests</a>

"We love democracy and hate the junta," Sithu Maung, an democratically elected member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) said during a protest at the Sule Pagoda in Yangon. "We must be the last generation to experience a coup”, Maung said.

Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, the spokesman for the council claimed on Tuesday that out of the 53 million people in Myanmar, 40 million support the military’s action.

Sithu Maung, while referring to that, said - "We're showing here that we're not in that 40 million”. On November 8, Suu Kyi’s party won the elections in the country. But the army claimed that the victory was fraudulent.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/south-asia/despite-coup-malaysia-to-deport-1200-myanmar-migrants-next-week-364090" hreflang="en">Despite coup, Malaysia to deport 1,200 Myanmar migrants next week</a>

The military also claims that it seized power in absolute sync with the country’s constitution, and that it remained committed to democratic rule.

"They said there was vote fraud but look at the people here," a protester was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Since February 6, the coup in Myanmar has triggered protests across different parts in the country. The takeover by the military has also been vehemently criticised by western governments, with anger flowing in especially from the US and the UK. The fresh charges against Suu Kyi have especially drawn ire.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Swarms of thousands of protesters marched the streets in Myanmar on Wednesday while continuing to reject the army’s claims that the people support the coup. The army asserted that people had given support to overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi.

Swarms of thousands of protesters marched the streets in Myanmar on Wednesday while continuing to reject the army’s claims that the people support the coup. The army asserted that people had given support to overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi. But the protesters vehemently deny this, while also reasserting that they will not give in to the military rule. The police recently filed a fresh charge Suu Kyi, which could extend her detention indefinitely. And critics of the coup do not readily trust assurances given by the junta. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate has been detained since the beginning of the coup. She now faces the charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law, along with charges of illegally importing six walkie talkie radios. The next hearing is scheduled for March 1. Also read: Myanmar military blocks internet for third consecutive night amid protests "We love democracy and hate the junta," Sithu Maung, an democratically elected member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) said during a protest at the Sule Pagoda in Yangon. "We must be the last generation to experience a coup”, Maung said. Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, the spokesman for the council claimed on Tuesday that out of the 53 million people in Myanmar, 40 million support the military’s action. Sithu Maung, while referring to that, said - "We're showing here that we're not in that 40 million”. On November 8, Suu Kyi’s party won the elections in the country. But the army claimed that the victory was fraudulent. Also read: Despite coup, Malaysia to deport 1,200 Myanmar migrants next week The military also claims that it seized power in absolute sync with the country’s constitution, and that it remained committed to democratic rule. "They said there was vote fraud but look at the people here," a protester was quoted by Reuters as saying. Since February 6, the coup in Myanmar has triggered protests across different parts in the country. The takeover by the military has also been vehemently criticised by western governments, with anger flowing in especially from the US and the UK. The fresh charges against Suu Kyi have especially drawn ire. (With inputs from Reuters)

Protesters in Myanmar reconvene, reject military's claims of public support for coup

Myanmar: Suu Kyi brought to court without any warning

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/under-new-law-myanmar-protesters-to-face-up-to-20-years-in-prison-363806">Myanmar </a>military generals on Tuesday choked the internet for the second consecutive night as protesters continued their demonstrations as extra troops were deployed around the country.

Watch:

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The military junta had imposed a state of emergency for one year on February 1 after ousting Aung San Suu Kyi who has not been seen in public for the past fortnight.

Reports said Suu Kyi and detained president Win Myint may be questioned by a court "via video conferencing" in Naypyidaw this week. Armoured vehicles operated on the streets in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-protests-armoured-vehicles-deployed-in-yangon-protests-erupt-after-internet-blackout-363705">Yangon</a> as the military tightened its hold over the country even as protesters demanded freedom for Suu Kyi and a return to democracy.

The protests have spread nationwide ever since the coup with &nbsp;Naypyidaw, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-security-forces-open-fire-to-disperse-protesters-in-mandalay-363793">Mandalay </a>and other cities reporting clashes between the state police and people.

The military has severely curtailed internet freedom with Tuesday's <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/myanmar-military-blocks-internet-as-troops-fire-to-break-up-protest-363635">internet </a>blackout set to be the fourth since February 1 even the United Nations denounced the military's move to choke off the internet, however, protests have continued regardless with violence reported in several areas.

According to reports, at least 420 people have been detained since the coup.

The coup has been internationally condemned with a joint statement from the US, British and European Union ambassadors urging Myanmar security forces not to harm civilians.&nbsp;

Reports say communities across the country have formed neighbourhood watch brigades to prevent night-time arrests by the military.

Myanmar military generals on Tuesday choked the internet for the second consecutive night as protesters continued their demonstrations as extra troops were deployed around the country.

Myanmar military generals on Tuesday choked the internet for the second consecutive night as protesters continued their demonstrations as extra troops were deployed around the country. Watch: The military junta had imposed a state of emergency for one year on February 1 after ousting Aung San Suu Kyi who has not been seen in public for the past fortnight. Reports said Suu Kyi and detained president Win Myint may be questioned by a court "via video conferencing" in Naypyidaw this week. Armoured vehicles operated on the streets in Yangon as the military tightened its hold over the country even as protesters demanded freedom for Suu Kyi and a return to democracy. The protests have spread nationwide ever since the coup with Naypyidaw, Mandalay and other cities reporting clashes between the state police and people. The military has severely curtailed internet freedom with Tuesday's internet blackout set to be the fourth since February 1 even the United Nations denounced the military's move to choke off the internet, however, protests have continued regardless with violence reported in several areas. According to reports, at least 420 people have been detained since the coup. The coup has been internationally condemned with a joint statement from the US, British and European Union ambassadors urging Myanmar security forces not to harm civilians. Reports say communities across the country have formed neighbourhood watch brigades to prevent night-time arrests by the military.

Myanmar military chokes internet for second consecutive night amid protests

A group of Buddhist monks marched against Myanmar's military junta on Tuesday, joining a campaign for an end to the generals' rule and for the release of detained leaders of the ousted elected government, including Aung San Suu Kyi.&nbsp;

About 20 monks in dark red robes walked through the streets of the main city of Yangon to a United Nations office, urging citizens to join their protest.&nbsp;

"I would like to request that all citizens help eliminate the power of the military dictatorship until we can get rid of this system," said one of the protesting monks, Sandar Thiri.&nbsp;

Monks held an English-language banner with the message: 'Monks. who don't want a military dictatorship'.&nbsp;

Some wore red masks to ward off the coronavirus and carried signs saying 'reject military coup'.&nbsp;

Thousands of people from all walks of life have come out onto the streets of towns and cities across the country to protest against the February 1 military overthrow of the government of veteran democracy champion Suu Kyi.&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-military-chokes-internet-for-second-consecutive-night-amid-protests-363909">Myanmar military chokes internet for second consecutive night amid protests</a>

Historically, monks in the predominately Buddhist country have helped organise communities, and at times led opposition to authority, in particular during British colonial rule.&nbsp;

Big pro-democracy protests in 2007 were called the 'Saffron Revolution' because of the prominent involvement of monks.&nbsp;

Those protests, though suppressed, ultimately led to the military's decision to gradually withdraw from politics, a process brought to a halt by this month's coup.&nbsp;

The army took power alleging that its complaints of fraud in a November 8 general election, in which Suu Kyi's party had won a landslide, were being ignored.&nbsp;

It guaranteed on Tuesday that it would hold an election and hand over power, denied its removal of the government was a coup or that its leaders were detained, and accused protesters of violence and intimidation.

A group of Buddhist monks marched against Myanmar's military junta on Tuesday, joining a campaign for an end to the generals' rule and for the release of detained leaders of the ousted elected government, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

A group of Buddhist monks marched against Myanmar's military junta on Tuesday, joining a campaign for an end to the generals' rule and for the release of detained leaders of the ousted elected government, including Aung San Suu Kyi. About 20 monks in dark red robes walked through the streets of the main city of Yangon to a United Nations office, urging citizens to join their protest. "I would like to request that all citizens help eliminate the power of the military dictatorship until we can get rid of this system," said one of the protesting monks, Sandar Thiri. Monks held an English-language banner with the message: 'Monks. who don't want a military dictatorship'. Some wore red masks to ward off the coronavirus and carried signs saying 'reject military coup'. Thousands of people from all walks of life have come out onto the streets of towns and cities across the country to protest against the February 1 military overthrow of the government of veteran democracy champion Suu Kyi. Also Read: Myanmar military chokes internet for second consecutive night amid protests Historically, monks in the predominately Buddhist country have helped organise communities, and at times led opposition to authority, in particular during British colonial rule. Big pro-democracy protests in 2007 were called the 'Saffron Revolution' because of the prominent involvement of monks. Those protests, though suppressed, ultimately led to the military's decision to gradually withdraw from politics, a process brought to a halt by this month's coup. The army took power alleging that its complaints of fraud in a November 8 general election, in which Suu Kyi's party had won a landslide, were being ignored. It guaranteed on Tuesday that it would hold an election and hand over power, denied its removal of the government was a coup or that its leaders were detained, and accused protesters of violence and intimidation.

Myanmar monks march, seek end to military rule

Situation in Myanmar appeared to be worsening as military junta deployed armoured vehicles in major cities including Yangon on Monday. The military imposed hours-long internet blackout and extra troop movement was seen at key locations in Yangon. The military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi government has completed two weeks and there are no indications so far that the military wants to soften its stand against the protesters.

However, fresh protests again flared in Yangon on Monday morning, including near the central bank.

Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer has told the media that she will remain in custody till Wednesday (February 17). It was previously thought that her custody was to end on Monday (February 15).

At the Burmese central bank, several hundred protesters held up signs calling for colleagues to join the CDM - civil disobedience movement - and stated their refusal to accept the coup.

"The central bank is the life blood of the country's monetary system. Many soldiers and armoured vehicles are deployed at the bank as the military is concerned that the central bank is inactive," private bank staff, Nay Aung Lwin said.
<img alt="Myanmar protests" data-caption="Protesters hold up signs calling for the release of detained Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration against the military coup in Naypyidaw on February 15, 2021.&lt;br /&gt;
​​​​" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c18ff3e1-fcbb-4085-8558-880fa362de63" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Myanmar%20protests%20%282%29.jpg" />
Hundreds of engineering and technology students protested in a northern district of the city, according to an AFP journalist.

There was a fresh rally in the southern city of Dawei too, a verified live stream on Facebook showed, with hundreds of protesters accompanied by a marching band.

Some carried banners against the military that read: "They kill in (the) day. They steal at night. They lie on TV."

Monitoring group NetBlocks reported that a "state-ordered information blackout" had taken Myanmar almost entirely offline, but services began resuming around the start of the working day.

"Network data show national connectivity rising to ordinary levels after information blackout," NetBlocks reported, adding that the outage lasted around eight hours.

But the monitor noted that most users in Myanmar were still barred from social media.
<img alt="Myanmar protests" data-caption="Protesters on scooters take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Naypyidaw on February 15, 2021." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="44b69448-c7ef-4f56-b29b-7d4fb6c97c3c" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Myanmar%20protests%203.jpg" />
A joint statement from the US, British and European Union ambassadors urged security forces not to harm civilians.

"We call on security forces to refrain from violence against demonstrators, who are protesting the overthrow of their legitimate government," they said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed that call. Through his spokesman, he also asked the military to "urgently" allow Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener to visit Myanmar "to assess the situation first hand".

The US embassy advised American citizens to shelter in place and not risk defying an overnight curfew imposed by the regime.

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UN special rapporteur Tom Andrews said the junta's efforts to rein in the burgeoning protest movement was a sign of "desperation" and amounted to a declaration of war against its people.

"Attention generals: You WILL be held accountable," he wrote on Twitter.

Much of the country has been in uproar since soldiers detained Aung San Suu Kyi and her top political allies on February 1, ending a decade-old fledgling democracy after generations of junta rule.

The Nobel laureate spent years under house arrest during an earlier dictatorship and has not been seen in public since she was detained.

(With agency inputs)

Situation in Myanmar appeared to be worsening as military junta deployed armoured vehicles in major cities including Yangon on Monday. The military imposed hours-long internet blackout and extra troop movement was seen at key locations in Yangon.

Situation in Myanmar appeared to be worsening as military junta deployed armoured vehicles in major cities including Yangon on Monday. The military imposed hours-long internet blackout and extra troop movement was seen at key locations in Yangon. The military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi government has completed two weeks and there are no indications so far that the military wants to soften its stand against the protesters. However, fresh protests again flared in Yangon on Monday morning, including near the central bank. Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer has told the media that she will remain in custody till Wednesday (February 17). It was previously thought that her custody was to end on Monday (February 15). At the Burmese central bank, several hundred protesters held up signs calling for colleagues to join the CDM - civil disobedience movement - and stated their refusal to accept the coup. "The central bank is the life blood of the country's monetary system. Many soldiers and armoured vehicles are deployed at the bank as the military is concerned that the central bank is inactive," private bank staff, Nay Aung Lwin said. Hundreds of engineering and technology students protested in a northern district of the city, according to an AFP journalist. There was a fresh rally in the southern city of Dawei too, a verified live stream on Facebook showed, with hundreds of protesters accompanied by a marching band. Some carried banners against the military that read: "They kill in (the) day. They steal at night. They lie on TV." Monitoring group NetBlocks reported that a "state-ordered information blackout" had taken Myanmar almost entirely offline, but services began resuming around the start of the working day. "Network data show national connectivity rising to ordinary levels after information blackout," NetBlocks reported, adding that the outage lasted around eight hours. But the monitor noted that most users in Myanmar were still barred from social media. A joint statement from the US, British and European Union ambassadors urged security forces not to harm civilians. "We call on security forces to refrain from violence against demonstrators, who are protesting the overthrow of their legitimate government," they said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed that call. Through his spokesman, he also asked the military to "urgently" allow Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener to visit Myanmar "to assess the situation first hand". The US embassy advised American citizens to shelter in place and not risk defying an overnight curfew imposed by the regime. × UN special rapporteur Tom Andrews said the junta's efforts to rein in the burgeoning protest movement was a sign of "desperation" and amounted to a declaration of war against its people. "Attention generals: You WILL be held accountable," he wrote on Twitter. Much of the country has been in uproar since soldiers detained Aung San Suu Kyi and her top political allies on February 1, ending a decade-old fledgling democracy after generations of junta rule. The Nobel laureate spent years under house arrest during an earlier dictatorship and has not been seen in public since she was detained. (With agency inputs)

Myanmar protests: Armoured vehicles deployed in Yangon, protests erupt after internet blackout

The military coup and subsequent detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi halted an unsteady transition to democracy that began in 2011.

Myanmar army suspends laws limiting forces, orders arrest of protest backers

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/us-embassy-in-myanmar-warns-of-troop-movements-cautions-its-citizens-363614">Myanmar's</a> military junta on Monday cut internet service and deployed troops around the country amid large scale protests as security forces fired to disperse demonstrations in the country's north.&nbsp;

Watch:

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NetBlocks said a "near-total internet shutdown is in effect in #Myanmar as of 1 am local time; real-time network data show national connectivity at just 14% of ordinary levels following state-ordered information blackout."

Myanmar troops fired tear gas at protesters in Myitkyina even as reports said at least five journalists monitoring the protest were detained. The crackdown by the military has been heavily criticised by the international community as UN rights envoy said the generals will be held accountable.

Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur for Myanmar said: "It's as if the generals have declared war on the people of Myanmar, these are signs of desperation. Attention generals: You WILL be held accountable."&nbsp;

The foreign ambassadors in Myanmar expressed concern over the incident while urging the military to refrain from violence against demonstrators. The US embassy warned of troop movements and possible "telecommunications interruptions" in Yangon.&nbsp;

Myanmar has witnessed escalated violence ever since the February 1 military coup in which pro-democracy leader and NLD party head Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in a morning raid. The whereabouts of Suu Kyi are still unknown even as the military has arrested several party leaders close to the Nobel Prize winner.

Protests have been going on in the country for over a week with demonstrators demanding a return to democracy and freedom for Suu Kyi.

The military had taken over the country after claiming the November election which was swept by the NLD was a result of voter fraud, an accusation which has been dismissed by the international community.

Myanmar's military junta on Monday cut internet service and deployed troops around the country amid large scale protests as security forces fired to disperse demonstrations in the country's north.

Myanmar's military junta on Monday cut internet service and deployed troops around the country amid large scale protests as security forces fired to disperse demonstrations in the country's north. Watch: NetBlocks said a "near-total internet shutdown is in effect in #Myanmar as of 1 am local time; real-time network data show national connectivity at just 14% of ordinary levels following state-ordered information blackout." Myanmar troops fired tear gas at protesters in Myitkyina even as reports said at least five journalists monitoring the protest were detained. The crackdown by the military has been heavily criticised by the international community as UN rights envoy said the generals will be held accountable. Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur for Myanmar said: "It's as if the generals have declared war on the people of Myanmar, these are signs of desperation. Attention generals: You WILL be held accountable." The foreign ambassadors in Myanmar expressed concern over the incident while urging the military to refrain from violence against demonstrators. The US embassy warned of troop movements and possible "telecommunications interruptions" in Yangon. Myanmar has witnessed escalated violence ever since the February 1 military coup in which pro-democracy leader and NLD party head Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in a morning raid. The whereabouts of Suu Kyi are still unknown even as the military has arrested several party leaders close to the Nobel Prize winner. Protests have been going on in the country for over a week with demonstrators demanding a return to democracy and freedom for Suu Kyi. The military had taken over the country after claiming the November election which was swept by the NLD was a result of voter fraud, an accusation which has been dismissed by the international community.

Myanmar military blocks internet as troops fire to break up protest

The situation in Myanmar appeared to be worsening as security forces opened fire on Monday to disperse protesters in the city of Mandalay, the media outlet Frontier Myanmar reported.

The number of casualties was not clear, it said. A member of a student union in the city said some people were wounded.

The military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi government has completed for two weeks and there are no indications so far that the military wants to soften its stand against the protesters. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-protests-armoured-vehicles-deployed-in-yangon-protests-erupt-after-internet-blackout-363705">Also read: Armoured vehicles deployed in Yangon, protests erupt after the internet blackout</a> 
 
The military imposed hours-long internet blackout and extra troop movement was seen at key locations in Yangon.&nbsp;

However, fresh protests again flared in Yangon on Monday morning, including near the central bank.

Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer has told the media that she will remain in custody till Wednesday (February 17). It was previously thought that her custody was to end on Monday (February 15).

At the Burmese central bank, several hundred protesters held up signs calling for colleagues to join the CDM - civil disobedience movement - and stated their refusal to accept the coup.

In Mandalay, members of the city's engineers' group joined marched with banners denouncing the military's takeover of the elected government.

Overnight, police and soldiers were seen on the streets of many towns and cities raising fears of a wave of night-time arrests of those seen as ring leaders of the protest movement.

(With inputs from agencies)

The situation in Myanmar appeared to be worsening as security forces opened fire on Monday to disperse protesters in the city of Mandalay, the media outlet Frontier Myanmar reported.

The situation in Myanmar appeared to be worsening as security forces opened fire on Monday to disperse protesters in the city of Mandalay, the media outlet Frontier Myanmar reported. The number of casualties was not clear, it said. A member of a student union in the city said some people were wounded. The military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi government has completed for two weeks and there are no indications so far that the military wants to soften its stand against the protesters. Also read: Armoured vehicles deployed in Yangon, protests erupt after the internet blackout The military imposed hours-long internet blackout and extra troop movement was seen at key locations in Yangon. However, fresh protests again flared in Yangon on Monday morning, including near the central bank. Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer has told the media that she will remain in custody till Wednesday (February 17). It was previously thought that her custody was to end on Monday (February 15). At the Burmese central bank, several hundred protesters held up signs calling for colleagues to join the CDM - civil disobedience movement - and stated their refusal to accept the coup. In Mandalay, members of the city's engineers' group joined marched with banners denouncing the military's takeover of the elected government. Overnight, police and soldiers were seen on the streets of many towns and cities raising fears of a wave of night-time arrests of those seen as ring leaders of the protest movement. (With inputs from agencies)

Myanmar security forces open fire to disperse protesters in Mandalay

Anti-Coup protests in Myanmar is now joined by the break dancers, the protests have taken a new route as the protesters also get creative in the coup. The protesters even used the Spiderman figure to alert the military to stay out of the politics. The creative route is not just limited to the heroic figures but also the use of the breakdance concept has also taken place a way to condemn the military coup.

Anti-Coup Protests took a Creative route in Myanmar

The US embassy in Myanmar has urged its citizens to “shelter-in-place”, citing reports of military movements in the commercial capital Yangon.

The embassy also said there was a “possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m”.

"There are indications of military movements in Yangon and the possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1:00 a.m. and 9:00 am" on Monday morning local time, the US embassy tweeted on its official American Citizen Services account on Sunday night.&nbsp;

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There are indications of military movements in Yangon and the possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. U.S. citizens in Burma are advised to shelter-in-place during the 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. curfew hours.
— American Citizen Services - Burma (Myanmar) (@ACSRangoon) <a href="https://twitter.com/ACSRangoon/status/1360948903705600000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
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According to Reuters, armoured vehicles were sighted in Yangon there for the first time since the February 1 military coup.

The possible interruptions would occur between 1830 - 0230 GMT.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, new army rulers grappled to contain a strike by government workers on Sunday, crippling their ability to run the country.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-army-faces-crippling-mass-strike-on-ninth-day-of-protests-363596">Also read | Myanmar army faces crippling mass strike on ninth day of protests</a>

Security forces&nbsp;opened fire to disperse protesters at a power plant&nbsp;and armoured vehicles rolled into major cities.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations. People protested across the nation after a fearful night as residents formed patrols and the army rolled back laws protecting freedoms.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in a November election that the army said was tainted with fraud - an accusation dismissed by the electoral commission.

Suu Kyi's detention is due to expire on Monday.

More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said, in a wave of mostly nightly arrests.

(with inputs)

The US embassy in Myanmar has urged its citizens to “shelter-in-place”, citing reports of military movements in the commercial capital Yangon. The embassy also said there was a “possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1:00 a.

The US embassy in Myanmar has urged its citizens to “shelter-in-place”, citing reports of military movements in the commercial capital Yangon. The embassy also said there was a “possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m”. "There are indications of military movements in Yangon and the possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1:00 a.m. and 9:00 am" on Monday morning local time, the US embassy tweeted on its official American Citizen Services account on Sunday night. There are indications of military movements in Yangon and the possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. U.S. citizens in Burma are advised to shelter-in-place during the 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. curfew hours. — American Citizen Services - Burma (Myanmar) (@ACSRangoon) February 14, 2021 × According to Reuters, armoured vehicles were sighted in Yangon there for the first time since the February 1 military coup. The possible interruptions would occur between 1830 - 0230 GMT. Meanwhile, new army rulers grappled to contain a strike by government workers on Sunday, crippling their ability to run the country. Also read | Myanmar army faces crippling mass strike on ninth day of protests Security forces opened fire to disperse protesters at a power plant and armoured vehicles rolled into major cities. Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations. People protested across the nation after a fearful night as residents formed patrols and the army rolled back laws protecting freedoms. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in a November election that the army said was tainted with fraud - an accusation dismissed by the electoral commission. Suu Kyi's detention is due to expire on Monday. More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said, in a wave of mostly nightly arrests. (with inputs)

US embassy in Myanmar warns of troop movements, cautions its citizens

New army rulers in Myanmar grappled to contain a strike by government workers on Sunday, crippling their ability to run the country.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations. People protested across the nation after a fearful night as residents formed patrols and the army rolled back laws protecting freedoms.

In addition, a civil disobedience movement to protest against the February 1 coup that deposed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, which started with doctors, now affects a swathe of government departments.

To this end, the junta ordered civil servants to go back to work on Saturday, threatening action.

But hundreds of railway workers joined demonstrations in the commercial capital Yangon on Sunday, even as police went to their housing compound on the outskirts of the city to order them back to work. The police were forced to leave after angry crowds gathered.

Soldiers were deployed to power plants in the northern Kachin state, leading to a confrontation with protesters who said they believed they intended to cut off the electricity to carry out nightly arrests.

Engineering students marched through downtown Yangon, the biggest city, wearing white and carrying placards demanding the release of ousted leader Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the coup and charged with importing walkie talkies.

Many of the protesters nationwide held up images of Suu Kyi. Her detention is due to expire on Monday.

More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said, in a wave of mostly nightly arrests.

Residents banded together late on Saturday to patrol streets in Yangon and the country's second-largest city Mandalay, fearing arrest raids as well as common crime.

Also late on Saturday, the army reinstated a law requiring people to report overnight visitors to their homes, allowed security forces to detain suspects and search private property without court approval, and ordered the arrest of well-known backers of mass protests.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in a November election that the army said was tainted with fraud - an accusation dismissed by the electoral commission.

(with inputs from agencies)

New army rulers in Myanmar grappled to contain a strike by government workers on Sunday, crippling their ability to run the country. Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations.

New army rulers in Myanmar grappled to contain a strike by government workers on Sunday, crippling their ability to run the country. Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations. People protested across the nation after a fearful night as residents formed patrols and the army rolled back laws protecting freedoms. In addition, a civil disobedience movement to protest against the February 1 coup that deposed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, which started with doctors, now affects a swathe of government departments. To this end, the junta ordered civil servants to go back to work on Saturday, threatening action. But hundreds of railway workers joined demonstrations in the commercial capital Yangon on Sunday, even as police went to their housing compound on the outskirts of the city to order them back to work. The police were forced to leave after angry crowds gathered. Soldiers were deployed to power plants in the northern Kachin state, leading to a confrontation with protesters who said they believed they intended to cut off the electricity to carry out nightly arrests. Engineering students marched through downtown Yangon, the biggest city, wearing white and carrying placards demanding the release of ousted leader Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the coup and charged with importing walkie talkies. Many of the protesters nationwide held up images of Suu Kyi. Her detention is due to expire on Monday. More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said, in a wave of mostly nightly arrests. Residents banded together late on Saturday to patrol streets in Yangon and the country's second-largest city Mandalay, fearing arrest raids as well as common crime. Also late on Saturday, the army reinstated a law requiring people to report overnight visitors to their homes, allowed security forces to detain suspects and search private property without court approval, and ordered the arrest of well-known backers of mass protests. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in a November election that the army said was tainted with fraud - an accusation dismissed by the electoral commission. (with inputs from agencies)

Myanmar army faces crippling mass strike on ninth day of protests

Tens of thousands of citizens in Myanmar resumed protest against the military junta after a night of fear. On Saturday, army rolled back laws protecting freedoms. Citizens formed patrolling parties.

Engineering students marched through downtown Yangon, the biggest city, wearing white and carrying placards demanding the release of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since Myanmar’s military overthrew her elected government on February 1.

Part of the biggest street protests in more than a decade, a fleet of highway buses rolled slowly through the city, honking their horns in protest.

A convoy on motorbikes and in cars drove through the capital Naypyitaw. In the southeastern coastal town of Dawei, a band played drums in shadows cast by awnings as crowds marched under the hot sun. In Waimaw, in the far northern Kachin state on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, crowds carried flags and sang revolutionary songs.

Protesters were seen across the country holding pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi.&nbsp;

Suu Kyi's detention on charges of importing walkie-talkies will expire on Monday.&nbsp;

More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said.

"While the international community is condemning the coup, Min Aung Hlaing is using every tool he has to instigate fears and instabilities," activist Wai Hnin Pwint Thon from the UK-based rights group Burma Campaign UK said on Twitter, referring to the army chief.

Many protesters in Yangon carried signs calling to authorities to “stop kidnapping people at night”.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-army-suspends-laws-limiting-forces-orders-arrest-of-protest-backers-363460">Myanmar army suspends laws limiting forces, orders arrest of protest backers</a>

Residents banded together late on Saturday to patrol streets in Yangon and the country's second-largest city Mandalay, fearing arrest raids as well as common crime after the junta ordered the release of thousands of prisoners.

Prisoner released to incite fear?

Citizens are reportedly worried that the military junta has ordered release of prisoners so that they could foment unrest and spread fear. This, the citizens worried, was a strategy to deter them from protesting against the military junta.

Yangon residents caught and handed over people they suspected of being released criminals over to police on Sunday (February 14), worried that they might instigate violence in their communities.

Worries about criminal activity have soared since Friday (February 12), when the junta announced it would free 23,000 prisoners, saying the move was consistent with "establishing a new democratic state with peace, development and discipline" and would "please the public". Reuters could not independently verify the identification of the captured and tied up suspects in the communities.

"We think the military intends to cause violence with these (ex) criminals by getting them to infiltrate the peaceful protests. Then the military will have a reason to extend their power to crackdown on violence," said Tin Myint, a Yangon resident.

Tens of thousands of citizens in Myanmar resumed protest against the military junta after a night of fear. On Saturday, army rolled back laws protecting freedoms.

Tens of thousands of citizens in Myanmar resumed protest against the military junta after a night of fear. On Saturday, army rolled back laws protecting freedoms. Citizens formed patrolling parties. Engineering students marched through downtown Yangon, the biggest city, wearing white and carrying placards demanding the release of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since Myanmar’s military overthrew her elected government on February 1. Part of the biggest street protests in more than a decade, a fleet of highway buses rolled slowly through the city, honking their horns in protest. A convoy on motorbikes and in cars drove through the capital Naypyitaw. In the southeastern coastal town of Dawei, a band played drums in shadows cast by awnings as crowds marched under the hot sun. In Waimaw, in the far northern Kachin state on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, crowds carried flags and sang revolutionary songs. Protesters were seen across the country holding pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi's detention on charges of importing walkie-talkies will expire on Monday. More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said. "While the international community is condemning the coup, Min Aung Hlaing is using every tool he has to instigate fears and instabilities," activist Wai Hnin Pwint Thon from the UK-based rights group Burma Campaign UK said on Twitter, referring to the army chief. Many protesters in Yangon carried signs calling to authorities to “stop kidnapping people at night”. Also Read | Myanmar army suspends laws limiting forces, orders arrest of protest backers Residents banded together late on Saturday to patrol streets in Yangon and the country's second-largest city Mandalay, fearing arrest raids as well as common crime after the junta ordered the release of thousands of prisoners. Prisoner released to incite fear? Citizens are reportedly worried that the military junta has ordered release of prisoners so that they could foment unrest and spread fear. This, the citizens worried, was a strategy to deter them from protesting against the military junta. Yangon residents caught and handed over people they suspected of being released criminals over to police on Sunday (February 14), worried that they might instigate violence in their communities. Worries about criminal activity have soared since Friday (February 12), when the junta announced it would free 23,000 prisoners, saying the move was consistent with "establishing a new democratic state with peace, development and discipline" and would "please the public". Reuters could not independently verify the identification of the captured and tied up suspects in the communities. "We think the military intends to cause violence with these (ex) criminals by getting them to infiltrate the peaceful protests. Then the military will have a reason to extend their power to crackdown on violence," said Tin Myint, a Yangon resident.

Myanmar: After a night of fear, tens of thousands resume protests

Myanmar's junta on Saturday suspended laws restricting security forces from detaining suspects or searching private property without court approval and ordered the arrest of well-known backers of mass protests against this month's coup.

The military coup and subsequent detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi halted an unsteady transition to democracy that began in 2011.

A series of announcements came as country-wide demonstrations against the February 1 takeover entered its second week.

An order signed by military ruler General Min Aung Hlaing suspended three sections of laws "protecting the privacy and security of the citizens", which had been introduced during the gradual liberalisation.

Those sections include the requirement for a court order to detain prisoners beyond 24 hours and constraints on security forces' ability to enter private property to search it or make arrests. The suspensions also free up spying on communications.

The coup has prompted the biggest street protests in more than a decade and has been denounced by Western countries, with the United States announcing some sanctions on the ruling generals and other countries also considering measures.

As anti-coup protests sprang up again in the biggest city Yangon, the capital Naypyitaw and elsewhere on Saturday, the army said arrest warrants had been issued for seven high profile critics of military rule over their comments on social media.

People should inform the police if they spot any of those named and will be punished if they shelter them, the army's True News information team said in a statement.

Others with warrants against them included "Jimmy" Kyaw Min Yu, also a veteran of the 1988 student uprising, and singer "Lin Lin" Htwe Lin Ko.

"I am so proud to have a warrant issued along with Min Ko Naing. Catch me if you can," said Ei Pencilo, to her more than 1.6 million followers on Facebook.

Protests in support of Suu Kyi and the election sprang up across Myanmar again on Saturday in spite of a junta call for people to avoid mass gatherings due to the coronavirus epidemic.

The junta also appealed to civil servants who have been following the civil disobedience campaign to return to work, with a threat of possible disciplinary action against those who do not.

The coup and detentions have prompted anger from Western countries and the 47-member UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Friday calling on Myanmar to release detainees and refrain from using violence against protesters.

The United States this week began imposing sanctions on the ruling generals and some businesses linked to them.

Earlier in the day, protesters in Yangon, the country's biggest city, again congregated at Hleden intersection, a key crossroads from which groups fanned out to other points, including the embassies of the United States and China. They marched despite an order banning gatherings of five or more people.

Spontaneous neighbourhood watch groups mobilised to thwart arrests of anti-coup activists and the UN demanded the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-protesters-block-arrests-as-demonstrations-enter-second-week-363384">Also read |&nbsp;Myanmar protesters block arrests as demonstrations enter second week</a> 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 
More than 320 people have been arrested since last week's coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.&nbsp;

Suu Kyi has not been seen since her detention nearly two weeks ago, though NLD official Kyi Toe said on Saturday she was in Naypyidaw and still in "good health".&nbsp;

(with inputs from agencies)

Myanmar's junta on Saturday suspended laws restricting security forces from detaining suspects or searching private property without court approval and ordered the arrest of well-known backers of mass protests against this month's coup.

Myanmar's junta on Saturday suspended laws restricting security forces from detaining suspects or searching private property without court approval and ordered the arrest of well-known backers of mass protests against this month's coup. The military coup and subsequent detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi halted an unsteady transition to democracy that began in 2011. A series of announcements came as country-wide demonstrations against the February 1 takeover entered its second week. An order signed by military ruler General Min Aung Hlaing suspended three sections of laws "protecting the privacy and security of the citizens", which had been introduced during the gradual liberalisation. Those sections include the requirement for a court order to detain prisoners beyond 24 hours and constraints on security forces' ability to enter private property to search it or make arrests. The suspensions also free up spying on communications. The coup has prompted the biggest street protests in more than a decade and has been denounced by Western countries, with the United States announcing some sanctions on the ruling generals and other countries also considering measures. As anti-coup protests sprang up again in the biggest city Yangon, the capital Naypyitaw and elsewhere on Saturday, the army said arrest warrants had been issued for seven high profile critics of military rule over their comments on social media. People should inform the police if they spot any of those named and will be punished if they shelter them, the army's True News information team said in a statement. Others with warrants against them included "Jimmy" Kyaw Min Yu, also a veteran of the 1988 student uprising, and singer "Lin Lin" Htwe Lin Ko. "I am so proud to have a warrant issued along with Min Ko Naing. Catch me if you can," said Ei Pencilo, to her more than 1.6 million followers on Facebook. Protests in support of Suu Kyi and the election sprang up across Myanmar again on Saturday in spite of a junta call for people to avoid mass gatherings due to the coronavirus epidemic. The junta also appealed to civil servants who have been following the civil disobedience campaign to return to work, with a threat of possible disciplinary action against those who do not. The coup and detentions have prompted anger from Western countries and the 47-member UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Friday calling on Myanmar to release detainees and refrain from using violence against protesters. The United States this week began imposing sanctions on the ruling generals and some businesses linked to them. Earlier in the day, protesters in Yangon, the country's biggest city, again congregated at Hleden intersection, a key crossroads from which groups fanned out to other points, including the embassies of the United States and China. They marched despite an order banning gatherings of five or more people. Spontaneous neighbourhood watch groups mobilised to thwart arrests of anti-coup activists and the UN demanded the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Also read | Myanmar protesters block arrests as demonstrations enter second week More than 320 people have been arrested since last week's coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group. Suu Kyi has not been seen since her detention nearly two weeks ago, though NLD official Kyi Toe said on Saturday she was in Naypyidaw and still in "good health". (with inputs from agencies)

Protests in Myanmar entered their second week Saturday with neither demonstrators nor the military government they seek to unseat showing any signs of backing off from confrontations.

The army takeover that brought a decade-old democracy to an end last week has unleashed a storm of anger and defiance, with huge daily protests bringing urban centres around the country to a standstill.

Protesters in Yangon, the country's biggest city, again congregated at Hleden intersection, a key crossroads from which groups fanned out to other points, including the embassies of the United States and China. They marched despite an order banning gatherings of five or more people.

Spontaneous neighbourhood watch groups mobilised to thwart arrests of anti-coup activists and the UN demanded the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-may-target-free-speech-in-effort-to-stifle-protests-363394">Also read |&nbsp;Myanmar may target free speech in effort to stifle protests</a>

Since taking Suu Kyi and her top allies into custody, troops have stepped up arrests of civil servants, doctors and others joining strikes to call on the generals to relinquish power.&nbsp;

Crowds defied overnight curfews to mass on the streets as night fell, hours after finishing a seventh straight day of rallies, following rumours that police were launching a fresh wave of arrests.

People in Yangon skirted a junta ban on Facebook to organise neighbourhood watch groups that warned of rumoured arrests.

More than 320 people have been arrested since last week's coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.&nbsp;

An emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva called for the new regime to release all "arbitrarily detained" persons and hand power back to Suu Kyi's administration.

The UN deputy rights chief Nada al-Nashif warned Myanmar in the Friday meeting that "the world is watching" events unfold in the country.&nbsp;

News of more arrests did not stop tens of thousands from returning to the streets of Yangon on Saturday, where columns of traffic ground to a halt and blared their horns for five minutes to mark the birthday of Aung San.&nbsp;

Demonstrations also resumed in the second biggest city, Mandalay, with lawyers making up one large contingent.

Saturday's protests coincided with the birthday of Gen. Aung San, the country's independence leader and father of Suu Kyi. His name and image have appeared on signs carried by some demonstrators.

The independence hero and father of Suu Kyi is revered locally for freeing the country from colonial control but was gunned down at the age of 32, just months before the end of British rule.&nbsp;

So far, the generals remain undeterred by the widespread condemnation on the streets -- and overseas.

They justified seizing power with claims of widespread voter fraud in November's election, which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide.

Suu Kyi has not been seen since her detention nearly two weeks ago, though NLD official Kyi Toe said on Saturday she was in Naypyidaw and still in "good health".&nbsp;

(with inputs from agencies)

Protests in Myanmar entered their second week Saturday with neither demonstrators nor the military government they seek to unseat showing any signs of backing off from confrontations.

Protests in Myanmar entered their second week Saturday with neither demonstrators nor the military government they seek to unseat showing any signs of backing off from confrontations. The army takeover that brought a decade-old democracy to an end last week has unleashed a storm of anger and defiance, with huge daily protests bringing urban centres around the country to a standstill. Protesters in Yangon, the country's biggest city, again congregated at Hleden intersection, a key crossroads from which groups fanned out to other points, including the embassies of the United States and China. They marched despite an order banning gatherings of five or more people. Spontaneous neighbourhood watch groups mobilised to thwart arrests of anti-coup activists and the UN demanded the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Also read | Myanmar may target free speech in effort to stifle protests Since taking Suu Kyi and her top allies into custody, troops have stepped up arrests of civil servants, doctors and others joining strikes to call on the generals to relinquish power. Crowds defied overnight curfews to mass on the streets as night fell, hours after finishing a seventh straight day of rallies, following rumours that police were launching a fresh wave of arrests. People in Yangon skirted a junta ban on Facebook to organise neighbourhood watch groups that warned of rumoured arrests. More than 320 people have been arrested since last week's coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group. An emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva called for the new regime to release all "arbitrarily detained" persons and hand power back to Suu Kyi's administration. The UN deputy rights chief Nada al-Nashif warned Myanmar in the Friday meeting that "the world is watching" events unfold in the country. News of more arrests did not stop tens of thousands from returning to the streets of Yangon on Saturday, where columns of traffic ground to a halt and blared their horns for five minutes to mark the birthday of Aung San. Demonstrations also resumed in the second biggest city, Mandalay, with lawyers making up one large contingent. Saturday's protests coincided with the birthday of Gen. Aung San, the country's independence leader and father of Suu Kyi. His name and image have appeared on signs carried by some demonstrators. The independence hero and father of Suu Kyi is revered locally for freeing the country from colonial control but was gunned down at the age of 32, just months before the end of British rule. So far, the generals remain undeterred by the widespread condemnation on the streets -- and overseas. They justified seizing power with claims of widespread voter fraud in November's election, which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide. Suu Kyi has not been seen since her detention nearly two weeks ago, though NLD official Kyi Toe said on Saturday she was in Naypyidaw and still in "good health". (with inputs from agencies)

Myanmar protesters block arrests as demonstrations enter second week

The military government in Myanmar has increasingly used nighttime arrests, legal threats, a curfew and a ban on large gatherings to tame weeklong anti-coup protests that have spread from the cities to the countryside. Now, civil society groups fear that the military is preparing a new law that would further restrict online expression and limit the privacy rights of citizens.

One telecommunications company, Telenor, said Friday that it was aware of the proposal and was reviewing it. A coalition of 158 civil society organizations signed a statement raising concerns that the potential new law would lead to the widespread arrest of government critics.

Watch&nbsp;|&nbsp;

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Myanmar already has harsh laws restricting online speech, but opponents of the military say the proposed law is so broad that it would allow authorities to arrest anyone who criticized the government online and imprison them for up to three years. Critics also said the proposed law would require telecommunications companies to cooperate with the government and provide information on their customers.

The military government declined to comment.

Concern over the proposal comes amid fears that the military could use greater force if the protests continue, as it has in the past. Two protesters have already been shot. But the proposal also suggests that the military may be searching for a variety of ways to rein in the demonstrations.

The military, which has ruled the country for most of the last 60 years, has a long history of using violence to suppress protests, including gunning down pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988 and 2007. The Myanmar army, or Tatmadaw, has never been shy about showing the depths of its brutality, killing monks in the street and launching a murderous rampage against the Rohingya, leading to an exodus of the Muslim minority in 2017.

But a violent response to largely peaceful protests that have swept the country after the Feb. 1 coup could further isolate Myanmar at a time when military leaders want to maintain normal economic relations. Aside from a nationally televised speech Tuesday evening by the coup leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the generals behind the junta have largely been silent as the civil disobedience movement has grown.

On Thursday, Min Aung Hlaing posted a statement on Facebook saying that coronavirus vaccinations were proceeding and repeating his call for “disciplined multiparty democracy.”

Since seizing power, the military has shut down the internet at times and blocked Facebook to disrupt communications among protesters.

Over the last 10 days, a civil disobedience movement against the military takeover has seeped into nearly every aspect of society. Many bank employees, rail workers, civil servants, doctors and nurses have refused to work, reducing the availability of medical care, slowing financial transactions and halting rail transportation.

A walkout by rail employees earlier this week prompted the closure of the Myanmar Railway, which under coronavirus restrictions was serving only several thousand commuters near Yangon, the country’s largest city. There was no indication of when it would reopen.

In Yangon, where hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets in protest earlier this week, actions were more muted as smaller impromptu demonstrations popped up in different neighborhoods. On Friday, thousands of protesters staged demonstrations at foreign missions in the city, including the Chinese and Russian embassies.

Demonstrators also have become more creative since the restrictions on gatherings were announced Tuesday. Some have paraded in horse-drawn carts or dressed in ballgown. One group of animal lovers brought their dogs, another their snakes and lizards. Musicians played on the streets, weightlifters bared their chests, and a few young women wore bikinis while holding anti-coup signs.

“It’s wonderful to see all kinds of people joining in protest,” said Wai Zin Thant, a private company manager in Mandalay who watched them online. “I never thought that I would see a fashion show, a music concert and a historical protest against the military coup at the same time.”

The protests have even come to the placid Inle Lake in central Myanmar, where the inhabitants seem to live in a bygone era. They dwell in houses built on stilts, grow vegetables in floating gardens and travel in long, narrow wooden boats. The fishermen are renowned for standing on one leg while rowing with the other.

But the community is not so remote that it has been bypassed by the protests. On Thursday, more than a thousand Inle Lake residents gathered by boat in a floating protest, with anti-military slogans written on their wooden paddles and placards spelling out words in English such as, “Get out dictators.”

“Maybe people think we live a peaceful life because we grow our vegetables for food and make our own boats for transportation,” said Ngwe Toe, an Inle resident. “But we can’t neglect that the country’s democracy is being raped by the military.”

At several demonstrations earlier in the week, police officers crossed over to the protesters’ side to large cheers from the crowd. In the city of Loikaw in Kayah state, at least 40 male and female officers joined in chanting, “No dictatorship” and “People’s police” after switching sides.

But in the capital, Naypyitaw, two protesters were shot by the police Tuesday, apparently with live ammunition. One victim, Mya Thwate Thwate Khing, 19, was shot in the head. She is being kept alive by a ventilator, said Dr. Wai Yan Kyaw at Naypyitaw Thousand-Bed General Hospital, where she is being treated.

“According to her injury, this must not be a rubber bullet,” the doctor said. “This must be a real bullet.”

A second patient, a man who was shot in the chest, has been released, he said.

The young woman’s sister, Mya Tha Toe Nwe, said the two of them had taken cover at the protest to avoid the spray from a police water cannon and were leaving when she was shot.

“There is no hope even with an operation,” she said. “I am deeply sad.” But she said she would not be deterred.

“We participated in the protest against the military coup because it’s not only for one person or one party,” she said. “We need to eliminate the military dictatorship from our country, and I will keep fighting.”

Many protesters applauded the decision by President Joe Biden on Wednesday to impose sanctions on the generals behind the coup that would prevent them from gaining access to $1 billion in funds that their government keeps in the United States.

Biden, who has demanded that the military release the civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest, said he would announce additional actions against the military leaders and their families. The United Nations Human Rights Council was scheduled to meet in a special session Friday to consider taking action.

In recent days, the military has rounded up prominent leaders aligned with Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, in midnight raids, including the chief ministers of 14 states, the popular mayor of Mandalay and her Australian economics adviser.

Among those detained were the chairman and a member of the Union Election Commission, which oversaw the November elections that the National League for Democracy won in a landslide. The military tried to justify its coup by claiming electoral fraud. Authorities also raided the party’s headquarters in Yangon, seizing financial records, computers and data storage devices.

A doctor active in the civil disobedience movement in the southern Myanmar township of Ingapu was arrested and dragged away by plainclothes police officers Thursday afternoon while he was in the middle of stitching up a patient, his family said. He has not been heard from since.

The military announced Friday that it would release more than 23,000 prisoners under an amnesty in honor of Union Day, a national holiday commemorating a 1947 independence agreement. Such mass amnesties are not unusual in Myanmar; the civilian government released nearly 25,000 inmates in April.

But democracy advocates expressed concern online that the junta could organize some of the prisoners into mobs to attack protesters, a tactic that critics said it has used in the past.

The military government in Myanmar has increasingly used nighttime arrests, legal threats, a curfew and a ban on large gatherings to tame weeklong anti-coup protests that have spread from the cities to the countryside.

The military government in Myanmar has increasingly used nighttime arrests, legal threats, a curfew and a ban on large gatherings to tame weeklong anti-coup protests that have spread from the cities to the countryside. Now, civil society groups fear that the military is preparing a new law that would further restrict online expression and limit the privacy rights of citizens. One telecommunications company, Telenor, said Friday that it was aware of the proposal and was reviewing it. A coalition of 158 civil society organizations signed a statement raising concerns that the potential new law would lead to the widespread arrest of government critics. Watch | Myanmar already has harsh laws restricting online speech, but opponents of the military say the proposed law is so broad that it would allow authorities to arrest anyone who criticized the government online and imprison them for up to three years. Critics also said the proposed law would require telecommunications companies to cooperate with the government and provide information on their customers. The military government declined to comment. Concern over the proposal comes amid fears that the military could use greater force if the protests continue, as it has in the past. Two protesters have already been shot. But the proposal also suggests that the military may be searching for a variety of ways to rein in the demonstrations. The military, which has ruled the country for most of the last 60 years, has a long history of using violence to suppress protests, including gunning down pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988 and 2007. The Myanmar army, or Tatmadaw, has never been shy about showing the depths of its brutality, killing monks in the street and launching a murderous rampage against the Rohingya, leading to an exodus of the Muslim minority in 2017. But a violent response to largely peaceful protests that have swept the country after the Feb. 1 coup could further isolate Myanmar at a time when military leaders want to maintain normal economic relations. Aside from a nationally televised speech Tuesday evening by the coup leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the generals behind the junta have largely been silent as the civil disobedience movement has grown. On Thursday, Min Aung Hlaing posted a statement on Facebook saying that coronavirus vaccinations were proceeding and repeating his call for “disciplined multiparty democracy.” Since seizing power, the military has shut down the internet at times and blocked Facebook to disrupt communications among protesters. Over the last 10 days, a civil disobedience movement against the military takeover has seeped into nearly every aspect of society. Many bank employees, rail workers, civil servants, doctors and nurses have refused to work, reducing the availability of medical care, slowing financial transactions and halting rail transportation. A walkout by rail employees earlier this week prompted the closure of the Myanmar Railway, which under coronavirus restrictions was serving only several thousand commuters near Yangon, the country’s largest city. There was no indication of when it would reopen. In Yangon, where hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets in protest earlier this week, actions were more muted as smaller impromptu demonstrations popped up in different neighborhoods. On Friday, thousands of protesters staged demonstrations at foreign missions in the city, including the Chinese and Russian embassies. Demonstrators also have become more creative since the restrictions on gatherings were announced Tuesday. Some have paraded in horse-drawn carts or dressed in ballgown. One group of animal lovers brought their dogs, another their snakes and lizards. Musicians played on the streets, weightlifters bared their chests, and a few young women wore bikinis while holding anti-coup signs. “It’s wonderful to see all kinds of people joining in protest,” said Wai Zin Thant, a private company manager in Mandalay who watched them online. “I never thought that I would see a fashion show, a music concert and a historical protest against the military coup at the same time.” The protests have even come to the placid Inle Lake in central Myanmar, where the inhabitants seem to live in a bygone era. They dwell in houses built on stilts, grow vegetables in floating gardens and travel in long, narrow wooden boats. The fishermen are renowned for standing on one leg while rowing with the other. But the community is not so remote that it has been bypassed by the protests. On Thursday, more than a thousand Inle Lake residents gathered by boat in a floating protest, with anti-military slogans written on their wooden paddles and placards spelling out words in English such as, “Get out dictators.” “Maybe people think we live a peaceful life because we grow our vegetables for food and make our own boats for transportation,” said Ngwe Toe, an Inle resident. “But we can’t neglect that the country’s democracy is being raped by the military.” At several demonstrations earlier in the week, police officers crossed over to the protesters’ side to large cheers from the crowd. In the city of Loikaw in Kayah state, at least 40 male and female officers joined in chanting, “No dictatorship” and “People’s police” after switching sides. But in the capital, Naypyitaw, two protesters were shot by the police Tuesday, apparently with live ammunition. One victim, Mya Thwate Thwate Khing, 19, was shot in the head. She is being kept alive by a ventilator, said Dr. Wai Yan Kyaw at Naypyitaw Thousand-Bed General Hospital, where she is being treated. “According to her injury, this must not be a rubber bullet,” the doctor said. “This must be a real bullet.” A second patient, a man who was shot in the chest, has been released, he said. The young woman’s sister, Mya Tha Toe Nwe, said the two of them had taken cover at the protest to avoid the spray from a police water cannon and were leaving when she was shot. “There is no hope even with an operation,” she said. “I am deeply sad.” But she said she would not be deterred. “We participated in the protest against the military coup because it’s not only for one person or one party,” she said. “We need to eliminate the military dictatorship from our country, and I will keep fighting.” Many protesters applauded the decision by President Joe Biden on Wednesday to impose sanctions on the generals behind the coup that would prevent them from gaining access to $1 billion in funds that their government keeps in the United States. Biden, who has demanded that the military release the civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest, said he would announce additional actions against the military leaders and their families. The United Nations Human Rights Council was scheduled to meet in a special session Friday to consider taking action. In recent days, the military has rounded up prominent leaders aligned with Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, in midnight raids, including the chief ministers of 14 states, the popular mayor of Mandalay and her Australian economics adviser. Among those detained were the chairman and a member of the Union Election Commission, which oversaw the November elections that the National League for Democracy won in a landslide. The military tried to justify its coup by claiming electoral fraud. Authorities also raided the party’s headquarters in Yangon, seizing financial records, computers and data storage devices. A doctor active in the civil disobedience movement in the southern Myanmar township of Ingapu was arrested and dragged away by plainclothes police officers Thursday afternoon while he was in the middle of stitching up a patient, his family said. He has not been heard from since. The military announced Friday that it would release more than 23,000 prisoners under an amnesty in honor of Union Day, a national holiday commemorating a 1947 independence agreement. Such mass amnesties are not unusual in Myanmar; the civilian government released nearly 25,000 inmates in April. But democracy advocates expressed concern online that the junta could organize some of the prisoners into mobs to attack protesters, a tactic that critics said it has used in the past.

Myanmar may target free speech in effort to stifle protests

Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing urged demonstrators to end their protest citing coronavirus fears on Thursday as people from all walks of life continued their protest across the country demanding the restoration of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government.

Watch:

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"Due to unscrupulous persons' incitement, some civil service personnel have failed to perform their duties," General &nbsp;Hlaing said, adding, "effective actions will be taken." Myanmar's general asked civil servants to come back to work amid large scale demonstrations.

Despite&nbsp;Hlaing's statement thousands continued their protest in Yangon and elsewhere across the country. Several protesters chanted anti-military slogans aboard traditional fishing boats on Inle Lake in Shan state, southeastern Myanmar.

The military coup which took place last Monday led to the arrest of popular pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi including many of her NLD party leaders. On Thursday, there were more reports of arrests with deputy speaker of the parliament's lower house and a key aide to Suu Kyi being arrested.&nbsp;

The military had imposed a one year state of emergency after the coup and had alleged that there was voter fraud in the last November elections, a claim which has been stridently opposed by protesters who have been demanding a return to democracy and freeing of Suu Kyi.

The face-off between the police and protesters took a deadly turn this week after live rounds were fired at a rally in Naypyidaw critically wounding a woman who is currently battling for life.

Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, 20, was shot in the head is in intensive care after suffering gunshot wounds with the identity of gunman still unknown even as Facebook and Twitter users have launched an online hunt.

Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing urged demonstrators to end their protest citing coronavirus fears on Thursday as people from all walks of life continued their protest across the country demanding the restoration of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government.

Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing urged demonstrators to end their protest citing coronavirus fears on Thursday as people from all walks of life continued their protest across the country demanding the restoration of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government. Watch: "Due to unscrupulous persons' incitement, some civil service personnel have failed to perform their duties," General Hlaing said, adding, "effective actions will be taken." Myanmar's general asked civil servants to come back to work amid large scale demonstrations. Despite Hlaing's statement thousands continued their protest in Yangon and elsewhere across the country. Several protesters chanted anti-military slogans aboard traditional fishing boats on Inle Lake in Shan state, southeastern Myanmar. The military coup which took place last Monday led to the arrest of popular pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi including many of her NLD party leaders. On Thursday, there were more reports of arrests with deputy speaker of the parliament's lower house and a key aide to Suu Kyi being arrested. The military had imposed a one year state of emergency after the coup and had alleged that there was voter fraud in the last November elections, a claim which has been stridently opposed by protesters who have been demanding a return to democracy and freeing of Suu Kyi. The face-off between the police and protesters took a deadly turn this week after live rounds were fired at a rally in Naypyidaw critically wounding a woman who is currently battling for life. Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, 20, was shot in the head is in intensive care after suffering gunshot wounds with the identity of gunman still unknown even as Facebook and Twitter users have launched an online hunt.

Myanmar military warns protesters to return to work amid nationwide demonstrations

Kyaw Tint Swe close aide to ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained on Thursday, said a party official. Myanmar is witnessing fresh wave of arrests following the military coup on February 1. Kyi Toe, an information committee member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said Kyaw Tint Swe and four other people linked to the previous government had been taken from their homes overnight, and the top leadership of the former electoral commission had all been arrested.

NLD had won the November 2020 election by a landslide. Military claims that there was widespread fraud in the elections. Myanmar's electoral commission had rejected those claims.

Protesters gathered across the country for a sixth straight day on Thursday.

Hundreds of workers lined a road in the capital Naypyitaw in support of the civil disobedience movement, chanting anti-junta slogans and carrying placards supporting Suu Kyi.

In line with the creative ethos of recent demonstrations where some protesters have worn ball gowns and fancy dress, rallies in Yangon included men and boys dressed in short skirts. "We don't take off our skirt until we get democracy back," one sign read.

US Sanctions

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved an executive order for sanctions on those who were responsible for the coup in Myanmar. He has demanded that Myanmar's generals give up power and civilian leaders be freed.

Washington would identify the first round of targets this week and was taking steps to prevent the generals in Myanmar, also known as Burma, having access to $1 billion in Myanmar government funds held in the United States.

"We're also going to impose strong exports controls. We're freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Burmese government while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly," Biden said at the White House.

Washington is likely to target coup leader Min Aung Hlaing and other top generals who are already under U.S. sanctions imposed in 2019 over abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities.

(With Reuters inputs)

Kyaw Tint Swe close aide to ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained on Thursday, said a party official. Myanmar is witnessing fresh wave of arrests following the military coup on February 1.

Kyaw Tint Swe close aide to ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained on Thursday, said a party official. Myanmar is witnessing fresh wave of arrests following the military coup on February 1. Kyi Toe, an information committee member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said Kyaw Tint Swe and four other people linked to the previous government had been taken from their homes overnight, and the top leadership of the former electoral commission had all been arrested. NLD had won the November 2020 election by a landslide. Military claims that there was widespread fraud in the elections. Myanmar's electoral commission had rejected those claims. Protesters gathered across the country for a sixth straight day on Thursday. Hundreds of workers lined a road in the capital Naypyitaw in support of the civil disobedience movement, chanting anti-junta slogans and carrying placards supporting Suu Kyi. In line with the creative ethos of recent demonstrations where some protesters have worn ball gowns and fancy dress, rallies in Yangon included men and boys dressed in short skirts. "We don't take off our skirt until we get democracy back," one sign read. US Sanctions US President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved an executive order for sanctions on those who were responsible for the coup in Myanmar. He has demanded that Myanmar's generals give up power and civilian leaders be freed. Washington would identify the first round of targets this week and was taking steps to prevent the generals in Myanmar, also known as Burma, having access to $1 billion in Myanmar government funds held in the United States. "We're also going to impose strong exports controls. We're freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Burmese government while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly," Biden said at the White House. Washington is likely to target coup leader Min Aung Hlaing and other top generals who are already under U.S. sanctions imposed in 2019 over abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities. (With Reuters inputs)

Myanmar: Suu Kyi close aide detained, fresh wave of arrests

Myanmar's new junta leader has called on civil servants to return to work, urging them to stop mass gatherings to avoid spreading coronavirus as the US moved a step closer to imposing sanctions on him and his fellow generals.

Min Aung Hlaing's plea came as a sixth day of protests against him and his coup spanned the Southeast Asian country.

Britain said it was also considering measures it could apply to punish the February 1 takeover that halted an unsteady transition to democracy.

The coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with scores of others have prompted the biggest demonstrations since a 2007 "Saffron Revolution" that ultimately became a step towards democratic reforms.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing addressed the protests for the first time in public, blaming "unscrupulous persons" for work stoppages in a growing civil disobedience movement by medics, teachers, railway workers and many other government employees.

"Those who are away from their duties are requested to return to their duties immediately for the interests of the country and people without focusing on the emotion," he said.

He also urged people to avoid gatherings, which he said would fuel the spread of the coronavirus.

Protesters gathered across the country on Thursday. Hundreds of workers lined a road in the capital Naypyitaw, chanting anti-junta slogans and carrying placards supporting Suu Kyi. Thousands demonstrated in the main city of Yangon, some taking a humorous approach, such as men dressed in short skirts.

The military launched the coup after what it said was widespread fraud in a November election, won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in a landslide. The electoral commission had rejected those claims.

Suu Kyi, who was swept to power following a historic election victory in 2015, faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios.

To this end, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday also approved an executive order for new sanctions on those responsible for the coup.

"The military must relinquish power it seized and demonstrate respect for the world and the people of Burma as expressed in their November 8th election," he said.

Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning for democracy and remains hugely popular at home despite damage to her international reputation over the plight of the Rohingya.

She spent nearly 15 years under house arrest under previous juntas. Her lawyer says he has not been allowed to see her.

Min Aung Hlaing and other top generals are already under U.S. sanctions imposed in 2019 over abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities.

(with inputs)

Myanmar's new junta leader has called on civil servants to return to work, urging them to stop mass gatherings to avoid spreading coronavirus as the US moved a step closer to imposing sanctions on him and his fellow generals.

Myanmar's new junta leader has called on civil servants to return to work, urging them to stop mass gatherings to avoid spreading coronavirus as the US moved a step closer to imposing sanctions on him and his fellow generals. Min Aung Hlaing's plea came as a sixth day of protests against him and his coup spanned the Southeast Asian country. Britain said it was also considering measures it could apply to punish the February 1 takeover that halted an unsteady transition to democracy. The coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with scores of others have prompted the biggest demonstrations since a 2007 "Saffron Revolution" that ultimately became a step towards democratic reforms. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing addressed the protests for the first time in public, blaming "unscrupulous persons" for work stoppages in a growing civil disobedience movement by medics, teachers, railway workers and many other government employees. "Those who are away from their duties are requested to return to their duties immediately for the interests of the country and people without focusing on the emotion," he said. He also urged people to avoid gatherings, which he said would fuel the spread of the coronavirus. Protesters gathered across the country on Thursday. Hundreds of workers lined a road in the capital Naypyitaw, chanting anti-junta slogans and carrying placards supporting Suu Kyi. Thousands demonstrated in the main city of Yangon, some taking a humorous approach, such as men dressed in short skirts. The military launched the coup after what it said was widespread fraud in a November election, won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in a landslide. The electoral commission had rejected those claims. Suu Kyi, who was swept to power following a historic election victory in 2015, faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. To this end, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday also approved an executive order for new sanctions on those responsible for the coup. "The military must relinquish power it seized and demonstrate respect for the world and the people of Burma as expressed in their November 8th election," he said. Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning for democracy and remains hugely popular at home despite damage to her international reputation over the plight of the Rohingya. She spent nearly 15 years under house arrest under previous juntas. Her lawyer says he has not been allowed to see her. Min Aung Hlaing and other top generals are already under U.S. sanctions imposed in 2019 over abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities. (with inputs)

Myanmar's new junta leader calls for end to protests, sanctions loom

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