Tens of thousands of anti-coup protesters have taken to the streets across Myanmar despite a breakdown, including overnight attacks in the capital Yangon targeting protesters and officials from the Aung San Suu Kyi party, National League for Democracy (NLD).
A local campaign manager for the NLD died in custody after being arrested in Yangon on Saturday night, a rector from the parliament now leaked in a post on Facebook and the Irrawaddy news website reported. The cause of Khin Maung Latt’s death was unknown, but a Reuters news agency saw a picture of his body with a sheet of blood around his head.
The protests on Sunday come as state-run media warned lawmakers involved in the committee representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group believed to be as a legitimate elected government of Myanmar, they were committing “high treason” and could be sentenced to death or 22 years in prison.
The militants have declared the members of the group a non-grata persona and have threatened those who contact them with seven years in prison.
Several people were injured and arrested #Bagan, one of Myanmar ‘s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as police and armed soldiers fired live on protesters on Sunday morning. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/SllYKSmT9y
– An Irrawaddy (Eng) (@IrrawaddyNews) March 7, 2021
Myanmar was plundered in a riot on February 1 when the military seized power in a coup, plotting fraud in an election in November that returned the NLD to power and retained much of the country’s civilian leadership. hours before the new parliament of the country was met for the first time.
The seizure of power – a decade after the end of 49 years of strict military rule – sparked a revolution that has lost daily lives, with hundreds of thousands rallying on the streets and civil servants and others stopped. acting as a protest against the army.
An alliance of influential workers’ unions has called for an extended nationwide strike to begin on Monday, with the aim of causing a “complete, extended closure” of the country’s economy in a bid to end the trophy.
Security forces have recovered from the protests, killing at least 54 people and injuring dozens more.
Police in Myanmar’s old capital, Bagan, opened fire on Sunday, injuring several people, according to witness accounts and videos on social media.
At least five people were reported injured while police tried to break Bagan’s complaint, and photos showed a young man with bloody injuries to his chin and neck, believed to have been caused by a rubber bullet. . Bullet cover collected at the site showed live rounds were also fired.
In the town of Lashio in northern Shan district, police on Sunday fired gas tears and stun grenades, according to a live video on Facebook.
In Yangon, police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse crowds while one video posted to Twitter by the Myanmar Now website showed soldiers and police hitting and kicking three unarmed men. weapons.
Activist Maung Saungkha said rallies were being coordinated across many cities and areas as part of a two-day general strike.
“We are willing to die for our country,” he told AFP news agency
“This time we have to fight to win.” We believe that fighting with the younger generation will win us over. “
The largest turnout of the day was in Myanmar’s second city, Mandalay, where protesters filed a sit-down protest after two minutes of silence in honor of people killed by police and police. the army, the video showed.
Anti-coup protesters gathered in Myingyan in Mandalay district in front of the city hospital on Sunday, where soldiers were stationed. Security forces then opened fire on the crowd to disperse protesters, injuring one person in the leg. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/0rEcgDpN81
– Myanmar Now (@Myanmar_Now_Eng) March 7, 2021
‘Isn’t anyone going to help us?’
Overnight in the city, residents said soldiers and police raided several districts, shooting photos and arresting at least three people in Kyauktada City. Residents said they did not know why they were arrested.
“They want my father and my brother to come out.” Isn’t anyone going to support us? Don’t even touch my father and brother. Join us if you want to take them, ”one woman was shocked when two men, an actor and his son, were taken off.
Soldiers also came looking for a lawyer who worked for the NLD but was unable to find him, Sithu Maung, a member of the now-dissolved parliament, said in a Facebook post.
“U Maung Maung’s brother was beaten by police and soldiers and his body was kept in an upside-down position while he was tortured because there was no one to arrest him,” the spokesman said. depressing legislation.
More than 1,700 people were detained by the military by Saturday, according to statistics from the Association of Support for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group. He did not take a figure for a night catch.
“Arrestents were punished and kicked with armor boots, beaten with a police baton and then dragged into police vehicles,” AAPP said in a statement. “Security forces entered residential areas and tried to arrest more protesters, and fired on the homes, destroying many.”
The investigation group also said 21-year-old Ko Naing Min Ko died in Mandalay on Saturday after he was shot in the leg and hit by security forces the day before.
People affiliated with the armed-backed Solidarity and Development Union Party were also responsible for two deaths Saturday morning in the Magway area – a 17-year-old youth and an NLD party official, according to AAPP.