THOUSANDS PROTEST COUP IN MYANMAR AS RESISTANCE SPREADS

Sat 06 February 2021:

“Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win,” chanting tens of thousands protesters have taken to the streets of Yangon to denounce this week’s coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the first such demonstration since the generals seized power.

Calling for the military to free Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party who have been detained since the coup on Monday.

Saturday’s protest is the first sign of street unrest in a country with a history of bloody crackdowns on protesters. There were also anti-coup protests in Melbourne, Australia, and the Taiwanese capital Taipei on Saturday.

#HAPPENING Protesters shouting “OUR POLICE, meant for public, PLEASE STAND WITH PUBLIC” as protesters being blocked during the anti-military protest in Yangon. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #Myanmar pic.twitter.com/sSnPwyMcfl

— Cape Diamond (@cape_diamond) February 6, 2021

#HAPPENING Protest against the military dictatorship — workers, youths and activists organised it — YANGON #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #Burma #democracy #BurmaCoup pic.twitter.com/kcSDmJQPAO

— Cape Diamond (@cape_diamond) February 6, 2021

A civil disobedience movement has been building in Myanmar all week, with doctors and teachers among those refusing to work, and every night people bang pots and pans in a show of anger.

In addition to about 150 arrests in the wake of the coup reported by human rights groups, local media said about 30 more people have been arrested over the noise protests.

Images and videos posted on social media on Saturday showed police blocking a major intersection of Insein Road and Hledan junction in Yangon, as protesters attempt to march forward. Protesters peacefully chanted as their raised their hands in a three-finger salute.

Drivers of private cars and public buses were also seen honking their horns, as the standoff continues.

Myanmar’s military government has tried to silence dissent by temporarily blocking Facebook and extended the social media crackdown to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday in the face of the growing protest movement.

Authorities ordered internet providers to deny access to Twitter and Instagram “until further notice”, said Norwegian mobile phone company, Telenor Asa.

In a statement on Saturday, Amnesty International denounced the blackout as “heinous and reckless”.

“To shut down the internet amid a volatile coup, a humanitarian crisis and a health pandemic is a heinous and reckless decision,” Ming Yu Hah, a senior Amnesty official in Asia said.

⚠️ Alert: #Myanmar is now in the midst of a second nation-scale internet blackout as of ~10:00 a.m. Saturday local time; real-time network data show national connectivity falling to 54% of ordinary levels as users report difficultly getting online 📉

📰 https://t.co/Jgc20OBk27 pic.twitter.com/ebFLAAl7dj

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) February 6, 2021

“The military must re-establish all telecommunications immediately and stop putting people’s rights in danger.”

The Military takeover drew international condemnation with a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) call for the release of all detainees and targeted sanctions under consideration by Washington.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s armed forces, seized power alleging fraud in a November 8 election that the NLD won by a landslide. The electoral commission dismissed the army’s accusations.

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