Military junta troops cornered hundreds of people in Sanchaung township, the country’s largest city, and threatened to go door to door to hunt them down, Reuters reported. Police used guns fired and stun grenades when protesters have sought shelter in nearby buildings.
Local media reported that 27 people were arrested in Sanchaung on Monday night. CNN could not independently confirm whether protesters had been arrested.
The move called on the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Nations to force police and army to leave about 200 barricaded protesters. Thousands of people showed up in the nearby streets and districts in solidarity and in spite of a night bell.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, activists said the trapped protesters were able to leave Sanchuang District after security forces left and a curfew was lifted. Military trucks and security forces were seen leaving around 02:00 and protesters started leaving after 04:00. Volunteers were on hand to give the fleeing protesters home for free.
But security forces responded with increasing violence and brutality. Witnesses reported extrajudicial killings and raids, while footage and photos showed police and army shooting dead protesters against state capture and beating prisoners. According to the UN, at least 54 people have been killed in protests, including many teenagers and young people.
In Sanchaung on Monday, protesters celebrated International Women’s Day and ‘flew’ their Htamains (sarongs) as part of the anti-junta movement.
Activist Maung Saungkha said that during the day, cats and mice exchanged between police and protesters, who came across buildings to hide while security forces tried to disperse them. Around 6 p.m., 200 young protesters realized police had cordoned them off in a small area and refused to let them – or anyone else – leave, he said.
“Three streets were blocked by police and soldiers. Even though the owners of the building were ordinary people living in Sanchaung, these people were not allowed to go out,” he said.
People were scared and heard security forces shouting that they would build to the building to arrest them, he said.
The building in which Maung Saungkha hid had an emergency exit so he could leave the area. But many of his friends remained trapped until the early hours of the morning.
“I felt guilty all night long,” said Maung Saungkha, of the protest group General Strike Committee of Nationalities, which represents ethnic minorities. “I feel responsible not only for myself, but also for my colleagues.”
He believes security forces have only withdrawn due to pressure from the UN and international embassies, which have demanded that the protesters be held back and released.
UN spokeswoman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Monday that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for “maximum self-control” and called for all to be released without violence or arrest. ”
The British embassy in Myanmar tweeted that it was aware of the ‘ongoing situation in Sanchaung’ and called on the security forces to allow all citizens immediately without threats of violence or arrest. ‘
Media licenses revoked
The standpoint took place when the military junta revoked the licenses of five independent media outlets that fearlessly reported on the coup and the subsequent protests.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information announced on state television on Monday night that Mizzima, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Khit Thit, Myanmar Now and 7Day News have been deprived of ‘their publishing license’ and may not use media for news purposes. “
Then Zaw Latt, operations director of the DVB in Yangon, said the order means that they are no longer officially recognized as media organizations and are also not allowed to broadcast or publish on any platform.
“It’s not going to stop us,” said Toe Zaw Latt.
Mizzima also continued to broadcast images of the protests on its YouTube channel on Tuesday. The group confirmed on its website on Monday that the military had revoked its license.
DVB was one of several media organizations that had been forced to act outside the country for years under military rule. The organization was founded in 1992 by democracy activists and has managed and relied on its operations from Oslo, Norway on a network of underground reporters in Myanmar and an office in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which provides a window for one of the world’s most isolated countries. .
When the Myanmar army began to open in 2011 under the quasi-civilian rule of Thein Sein and embarked on a series of reforms, including the abolition of pre-publication censorship, the exile media groups began to return to the country cautiously.
“From the beginning, our strategy was a ‘foot in one foot’ situation, as we never trusted the military. And the military never trusted independent media. We are a regular marriage without love,” said Toe Zaw Latt. .
Paul Donowitz, Myanmar campaign leader at the rights group Global Witness, said the repression of the media showed that the army was “trying to bring the country back to its darkest days”.
“These five newspapers are an important part of Myanmar’s independent media landscape and provide important information to the people of Myanmar. Independent reporting is all the more important in the current context, helping to counter the military’s misinformation campaigns and the public and activists of objective versions of what is really going on in the aftermath of the coup, ‘he said.
When the army took control of the country last month, one of the coup leaders, Genl. Min Aung Hlaing, first time to stream independent TV channels. Since then, journalists have been among the 1,857 people detained by junata forces – including two DVB reporters.
“There will clearly be more targeting of journalists on the ground and we expect more arrests. Our biggest concern is how we can manage our staff safety. At the same time, we need to report,” Toe Zaw Latt said.
Going back into exile could be a possibility, he said, but for now, DVB will report on every platform they can. “The coup cannot stop us (reporting) … there is no way we are going to stop now,” he said.