YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Protesters in the largest city of Myanmar on Monday night challenged for their first mass protests in defiance of an evening clock at 20:00, trying to show support for about 200 students trapped by security forces in ‘ a small area of a neighborhood.
The students and other civilians earlier took part in one of the many daily protests across the country against the power seizure of power last month that drove out the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The military government has also placed a great deal of restraint on the media coverage of the crisis. It has announced that the licenses of five local media outlets – Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News – have been canceled.
“These media companies may no longer broadcast, write or provide information using any form of media platform or using any media technology,” state broadcaster MRTV said.
All five offered extensive coverage of the protests, often with a live video online. The offices of Myanmar Now were shut down by authorities on Monday before the measure was announced. The government detained dozens of journalists since the coup, including a reporter from Myanmar Now and Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, who were both charged under a public order law that imposed up to three years in prison.
The nightly street protests began after police cordoned off part of the Sanchaung area in Yangon and allegedly conducted door-to-door searches for those fleeing security forces’ attacks to seek shelter in the homes of sympathetic aliens to seek.
The news of their plight quickly spread on social media and people flocked to the streets in neighborhoods across the city to show solidarity and in the hope of putting pressure on the hunted protesters. In some streets, they built temporary barriers with everything at hand.
In the Insein district, they spread themselves across road crossings, singing songs, pro-democracy slogans and bumping objects together.
The diplomatic missions of the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union have all issued statements requesting the security forces to allow the trapped people to return safely to their homes. Although everyone has sharply criticized the February 1 coup and police violence, it is unusual for such diplomatic statements to be issued in connection with a specific ongoing incident.
‘There is increased tension caused by security forces around Kyun Taw Road in Sanchaung Township, Yangon. “We call on the security forces to withdraw them and allow people to go home safely,” the U.S. embassy said.
By midnight in Myanmar, there were still no reports of clashes between police and protesters, though security forces chased crowds, harassed residents who were looking through the windows and fired stun grenades. There are also some reports of rubber bullets.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following developments in the Sanchaung district where ‘many of the trapped women marched peacefully to commemorate International Women’s Day’, UN spokeswoman Stephane Dujarric said. said.
“He calls for maximum self-control and insists on the release of all without violence or arrest,” Dujarric said, respecting the rights to freedom of assembly and expression for peaceful protesters expressing their hopes and desires for the future of their country. pronounce. . ”
Guterres also called the occupation of a number of public hospitals in Myanmar by security forces ‘completely unacceptable’, the UN spokesman said.
The night hours have become increasingly dangerous in Myanmar. Police and military units regularly alternate neighborhoods, shooting randomly to intimidate residents and disrupt their sleep, and targeting arrests.
Security forces shot dead two people in northern Myanmar during the day, local media reported.
The Irrawaddy online newspaper said the victims were shot in the head during protests against the coup in Myitkyina in the state of Kachin. Graphic video on social media shows protesters pulling back tear gas, reacting with rocks and then fleeing to a fusion of what appeared to be automatic rifles.
Protesters hastily evacuated the injured, including one apparently fatal person, with a serious head injury. A second body was later seen on a stretcher, covered with a cloth.
Another shooting deaths occurred in Pyapon, a city about 120 kilometers south of Yangon.
To date, the government’s violent repression has killed more than 50 protesters. According to the UN’s Human Rights Office, fatal shots were fired on Wednesday 28 and 38 February.
Security forces also cracked down on protesters on Monday, firing tear gas at a crowd of about 1,000 people protesting in Pyinmana, a satellite town of the capital Naypyitaw. The protesters deployed fire extinguishers to create a smokescreen while fleeing authorities.
Thousands of protesters marched on Mandalay, the second-largest city, dispersing on their own amid fears that soldiers and police were planning to break their protest by force.
Meanwhile, an armed force of one of Myanmar’s ethnic groups has been deployed to protect anti-coup marchers following a brutal repression by the junta.
The Karen National Police Force arrived shortly after dawn to escort about 2,000 protesters near Myitta in the Tanintharyi region in southeastern Myanmar. They were carrying a variety of firearms, including assault rifles, as they marched in front of the column on dusty country roads.
The Karen police force is under the control of the Karen National Union, one of many ethnic organizations that have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy of the central government. The KNU uses political and, through its armed wing, military means to achieve its objectives.
Large-scale demonstrations have taken place daily in many cities and towns since the military takeover of Myanmar, and security forces have responded with increasing use of deadly force and mass arrests.
Police hospitals and universities occupied Sunday and believe hundreds of people arrested who were protesting against the military takeover.