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Memorial service for dead protesters
© APA (AFP)
According to eyewitnesses and the media, the ongoing protests against the military coup in Myanmar left eleven dead and numerous injured between Friday night and Saturday. In Yangon (Rangoon), for example, three people were killed when security forces acted “very brutally” against protesters in various parts of the city, as journalists reported to dpa on Saturday. Hundreds of people held vigils for the protesters killed despite the night curfew.
On Saturday, three other protesters were killed during protests in the central Southeast Asian country city of Mandalay, a witness and journalist told dpa. There the police tried to crush the protests with bullets. Two protesters were also killed in Saturday’s protests in Pyay, radio station Radio Free Asia reported.
Despite the night curfew, numerous people from all over the country took to the streets again on Friday night to protest against the military junta. Thousands of candlelit people gathered for a nightly vigil in Yangon’s Hledan neighborhood, the Irrawaddy newspaper and other local media reported. Many had posters in their hands calling for the release of the arrested and powerless Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.
Before the clashes, hundreds of people across the country had gathered to hold vigils for the slain protesters, from Hpakant in the north to Myeik in southern Myanmar. In Yangon, protesters sat at an intersection, where they chanted and prayed. On Saturday morning, numerous people in Yangon participated in a memorial service for Chit Min Thu, who was killed on Thursday. Many participants raised three fingers in the air in protest.
The German embassy in Myanmar demanded immediate access to the arrested Polish journalist Robert Bociaga. Diplomats called on authorities on Saturday to “treat the reporter fairly and humanely,” according to a statement posted on Facebook.
The journalist, who also works for the German press agency dpa in the Southeast Asian country, was arrested by forces in Taunggyi on Thursday, according to constant media reports. During the arrest, the 30-year-old is said to have been beaten and injured, as reported by a Khit Thit Media reporter on Facebook.
Since the military came to power, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Southeast Asian country. The security forces acted brutally against the protesters and also reportedly used targeted lethal force. In addition to operations against protesters, reports of night patrols and arrests have recently increased. According to UN figures, more than 70 people have died since the February 1 coup.
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