YANGON, MYANMAR (AP) – Police in Myanmar have stepped up their crackdown on protesters against the military takeover this month, and took effect on Saturday and early in the morning when protesters gathered in the country’s two largest cities and elsewhere.
Security forces in some areas have apparently become more aggressive in the use of force and arrests, and they have used more ordinary officers than they have previously revealed. Photos posted on social media showed residents of at least two cities, Yangon and Monywa, resisting by setting up deliberate street barriers to try to block the police march.
Myanmar’s crisis took a dramatic turn on the international scene at a special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday when the country’s UN ambassador declared his loyalty to the ousted civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi and called on on the world to put the army under pressure may relinquish.
Myanmar’s two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay, were arrested on Saturday, where protesters marched through the streets daily to peacefully restore the Suu Kyi government, whose National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in November. achieved. Police are increasingly upholding an order by the junta banning the gatherings of five or more people.
Many other cities and towns also staged large-scale protests against the February 1 coup.
Police in Dawei, in the southeast, and Monywa, 135 kilometers north of Mandalay, used violence against protesters. Both cities, with a population of less than 200,000 each, experienced large demonstrations.
Social media contains unconfirmed reports about a protester who was shot dead in Monywa. The reports could not be immediately confirmed independently, but appear to be credible, with both photos and identification of the victim. According to Monywa reports, dozens or more people have been arrested.
The military takeover turned years of slow progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule. Suu Kyi’s party would have been set up for a second term of five years, but the military has prevented parliament from holding her and President Win Myint, as well as other top members of her government, together.
At the New York General Assembly, Myanmar’s UN Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun stated in an emotional speech to fellow delegates that he represented Suu Kyi’s “civilian government elected by the people” and supported the fight against military rule.
He called on all countries to issue public statements strongly condemning the coup, refusing to recognize the military regime. He also called for stronger international measures to stop violence by security forces against peaceful protesters.
He received loud applause from many diplomats in the worldwide body of 193 nations, as well as exuberant praise from other Burmese on social media, who described him as a hero. The ambassador flashed a three-finger salute adopted by the civil disobedience movement at the end of his speech in which he addressed people at home in Burmese.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Saturday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Police have taken similar steps in neighborhoods.
Security forces also tried to stop protests in Mandalay, where roadblocks were erected at several important intersections and the regular venues for police meetings were flooded.
Buddhist monks were, as they regularly did, prominent in the procession on Saturday in Mandalay, giving moral authority to the civil disobedience movement challenging the military rulers.
Mandalay was the scene of several violent confrontations, and according to the independent Assistance of Political Prisoners, at least four of eight confirmed deaths were linked to the protests. On Friday, at least three people were injured there, including two who were shot in the chest by rubber bullets and another who sustained a bullet wound to his leg.
According to the association, 771 people were arrested, charged or sentenced on Friday in connection with the coup, and 689 are detained or arrested.
The junta said it had taken power because the polls were polluted last year by massive irregularities. The Electoral Commission before the attack on the grip of power refuted the allegation of widespread fraud. The junta fired the members of the old commission and appointed new members, who declared the election results null and void on Friday.
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Associated Press author Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.