Protesters take part in a protest against the military coup in front of the Chinese Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar on February 12, 2021.
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Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Myanmar’s largest cities on Sunday for a ninth day of anti-coup protests, after a horrific night when residents formed patrols and rolled back army laws protecting freedoms.
Engineering students marched through downtown Yangon, the largest city, wearing white and placards, demanding the release of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in custody since Myanmar’s army overthrew her elected government on February 1.
A fleet of highway buses, part of the biggest street protests in more than a decade, slowly rolled through the city, beating their horns out of protection.
A convoy on motorcycles and in cars drove through the capital Naypyitaw. In the southeastern coastal town of Dawei, an orchestra played drums in shadows cast by awnings as crowds marched under the hot sun. In Waimaw, in the northern state of Kachin on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, crowds carried flags and sang revolutionary songs.
Many of the protesters nationwide held images of Suu Kyi’s face.
Her detention, on charges of importing walkie-talkies, is set to expire on Monday. Her lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, could not be reached for comment on what was going to happen.
More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said in a spate of mostly arrests.
“While the international community condemns the coup, Min Aung Hlaing uses every tool he has to stir up fears and instability,” British Burma Campaign UK activist Wai Hnin Pwint Thon said on Twitter, referring to the army chief.
‘Stop kidnapping people’
Many protesters in Yangon carried signs calling on authorities not to “kidnap people at night”.
Residents gathered late on Saturday to patrol streets in Yangon and the country’s second largest city Mandalay, for fear of arrests as well as general crime after the junta ordered the release of thousands of prisoners.
In different neighborhoods, groups mostly beat young men on pots and pans to sound the alarm as they chased what they thought were suspicious characters.
Concerns about criminal activity have increased since Friday, when the junta announced it would release 23,000 prisoners, saying the move was in line with “the establishment of a new democratic state with peace, development and discipline” and ” will please the public ‘.
Unverified photos on social media have sparked rumors that criminals are trying to stir up unrest by burning fires or poisoning water supplies.
Tin Myint, a resident of Yangon’s Sanchaung Township, was among the crowds detained by a group of four people suspected of carrying out an attack in the neighborhood.
“We think the military intends to cause violence with these criminals by invading them in peaceful demonstrations,” he said.
He cited pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, when the military was widely accused of releasing criminals into the population to stage attacks, and later cited the unrest as a justification to expand their own power.
Three people in different parts of Yangon said they saw drones hovering above the crowd. “It flew up and down and filmed the crowd chasing thieves,” said the 30-year-old Htet, who asked to be identified by just one name.
The government and the military could not be reached for comment.
The army also re-enacted a law late Saturday requiring people to report visitors to their homes overnight, allowing security forces to detain suspects and search private property without court approval, ordering well-known supporters of mass protests must be arrested.
The coup has been denounced by Western countries, while the United States has announced some sanctions against the ruling generals and that other countries are also considering measures.