Singers heard “We want democracy” coming from the crowd as they marched near Yangon city center, urging the government to ban the internet.
Dozens of police, some in riot gear, had initially tried to block the route of the protest, forcing the public to change course.
At the earlier large-scale parade, passers-by were seen showing three-fingered respects against military rule, in close association with those in attendance. Others were seen beating and pouring water for both protesters and police in what one witness said as a way to avoid tensions.
Witnesses said the population was expanding in size, before appearing to disperse after several hours. But several smaller scatterplots still included one at Yangon University, where hundreds of mostly young people gathered.
NetBlocks’ internet surveillance service said Saturday that the country was in the midst of a second “blackout” of internet blackouts as the military sought to seize power.
According to NetBlocks, real-time network data showed that connections had dropped to 54% of normal rates and users had reported difficulty getting online.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) ordered the data network to be shut down on Saturday, according to Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor Group, which runs Myanmar’s Telenor.
The group said, writing on Twitter, that the ministry cited “Myanmar telecommunications law, and cited the circulation of false news, the stability of the country and public interest as the basis for the order.”
While voice and SMS calls are still working, Telenor Group said they are very concerned about the closure of the internet, but said that Telenor Myanmar is a local company and therefore “has been bound by local law and must deal with this erratic and difficult situation. “
“We deeply regret the impact of the closure on the people of Myanmar,” said Telenor.
Witnesses told CNN that an internet connection was interrupted on Saturday, although some people were still able to broadcast video from the march in Yangon on social media platforms.
The drop in connectivity follows moves to block access to social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as several prominent local news outlets.
Australian citizen retained
Australian adviser to Suu Kyi’s Sean Turnell told Reuters it was held on Saturday. “I believe you will hear about it soon, but I have been detained,” he told Reuters reporters in a message.
“Being accused of something, but I’m not sure what. I’m good and strong, and not guilty of anything,” he said, with an emoji smile.
Turnell is a professor of economics at Macquarie University, but according to his page on the university’s website, he is currently on leave while working as a senior economic adviser to the Myanmar government.
In a statement released Saturday, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade [DFAT] raised concerns about the detention of an Australian citizen.
“The Australian Government is deeply concerned about reports of Australians and other foreign nationals being irregularly held in Myanmar,” he wrote.
“In particular, we have serious concerns about an Australian being held at a police station,” he said.
The DFAT said it has “called in the Ambassador of Myanmar and recorded the deep concern of the Australian Government about these incidents.”
Sudden seizure of power
For more than 50 years, Myanmar – also known as Burma – was run by successive lone military governments that impoverished the country and prevented any dissent. Thousands of critics, activists, journalists, academics and artists were constantly imprisoned and tortured during that time.
Recently fired civilian leader Suu Kyi fired into international prominence in her decades-long struggle against military rule. When her party, the NLD, won a landslide in elections in 2015 and formed the first civilian government, many pro-democracy supporters hoped it would mark a break from the military rule of the time. gone and offered hope that Myanmar would continue to reform.
It was widely reported that the NLD won another decisive victory in a general election in November 2020, giving another five years in power and a hopeful prospect for some militant figures that an opposition party could send. support for democratic empowerment.
The power came suddenly when the new parliament was to be open and after months of escalation between the civilian government and the powerful army, known as the Tatmadaw, over electoral irregularities that are accused. The country’s Electoral Commission has once again denied that mass fraud took place.
Hundreds of NLD lawyers were detained in the capital Naypyitaw on Monday, where they had arrived to take their seats. Since then the junta has removed 24 ministers and a messenger from the government and named 11 of his own allies as deputies to take up positions in a new administration.
Analysts have said the coup was more likely to be carried out by the armed fighting to reaffirm its power and the personal desire of army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who was due to resign this year , rather than bad claims for voter fraud.
“Going against forced retirement in a few months, with no way to a civilian leadership role, and amid global calls that he must address criminal charges in The Hague, he was blamed,” said Jared Genser, a lawyer Former international human rights pro supporter bono adviser wrote to Suu Kyi, for CNN this week.
Monday’s coup was widely criticized internationally, with the United States calling on Myanmar’s military leaders to “immediately release the power they seized, the militants and officials they have deployed. continue to release, remove all telecommunications restrictions, and stop violence against civilians. “
Helen Regan of CNN and James Griffiths contributed to this report.