YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Protesters in Myanmar’s largest city marched on Monday night for their first mass protest, ignoring a curfew at 8pm to show support for an estimated 200 students trapped by security forces in a small surrounding area.
The students and other civilians had earlier taken part in several daily protests across the country in protest of the military’s takeover of power last month, which ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.
The military government also imposed greater control over emergency media coverage. It announced that the licenses of five local media outlets – Mizima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News – had been revoked.
“These media companies are no longer allowed to broadcast, write or provide information using any type of media platform or any media technology,” he said on state broadcaster MRTV.
All five were giving extensive coverage of the frequent protests with live steaming video. Authorities raided Myanmar Fiso on Monday, before the move was announced. The government has detained dozens of journalists After the uprising, Myanmar boat reporter and Associated Press’s Than Zhou, Both of whom are charged under the Public Order Act who have been sentenced to up to three years in prison.
The nighttime street protests began after police cordoned off parts of Yangon’s Sanchang neighborhood and are believed to be conducting house-to-house searches of people who have fled after being attacked by security forces to seek refuge in the homes of sympathetic strangers.
News of his plight quickly spread on social media, and people expressed some hope to show solidarity and show solidarity on the streets in the surrounding areas of the city and put pressure on the hunting protesters. On some streets, they erected temporary barricades with whatever they could get their hands on.
In the Insen district, they sang songs, chanted pro-democracy slogans and banged objects together at road junctions.
Diplomatic missions from the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union called on security forces to allow the trapped people to return home safely. Although all strongly condemned the February 1 uprising and police violence, it is unusual for such diplomatic statements to be issued in the context of a specific, ongoing incident.
“Security forces around Qin Taw Road in Yangon’s Sanchang township have created a lot of tension. We call on the security forces to allow people to return home safely, “the US embassy said in a statement.
By midnight in Myanmar, there were no reports of clashes between police and protesters, although security forces chased the crowd, harassed residents watching through windows, and fired spectacular grenades. There were also some reports of them being injured by rubber bullets.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following developments in Sanchong district, where “there are many trapped women who marched peacefully to celebrate International Women’s Day,” said UN spokesman Stephen Dujarric.
“They exercise maximum restraint and appeal for the safe release of all without violence or arrest,” Dujarric said, and expressed their hopes and aspirations for the future of their country, respecting the freedom of assembly and the right of expression for peaceful protesters. , ”Dujarric said.
A UN spokesman said Guterres had described the occupation of several public hospitals in Myanmar by security forces as “completely unacceptable”.
Night hours have become dangerous in Myanmar. Police and army units regularly pass through the neighborhood, firing randomly to intimidate residents and disrupt their sleep and make targeted arrests.
Local media reported that security forces shot and killed two people during the day in northern Myanmar.
The Irrawaddy newspaper Naline reported that the victims were shot in the head during an anti-insurgency protest in Matkina, Kachin state. In a graphic video on social media, protesters are retreating with tear gas, reacting with rocks and then fleeing after making a noise that sounds like automatic shelling.
Protesters rushed the injured, including an apparent casualty, a man with serious head injuries. Later he saw another body on a stretcher, his head covered with a cloth.
Another shooting occurred in the town of Papun, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Yangon.
Today’s government’s violent crackdown has killed more than 50 protesters. At least 18 people were fatally shot on Wednesday, February 28 and 38, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
Security forces also cracked down on protesters everywhere on Monday to disperse a crowd of about 1,000 people protesting in the satellite city of Pinamana in the capital, Naypyidaw. Protesters deployed fire extinguishers to make smoke screens fleeing from the authorities.
Thousands of protesters marched on Mandalay, the second-largest city, amid fears that soldiers and police were planning to break up their demonstrations.
Meanwhile, an armed force from Myanmar’s ethnic groups was deployed to protect anti-gun marchers in the wake of the brutal crackdown by the junta.
A unit of the Karen National Police Force, with about 2,000 protesters near Maitta in the Tanintari region in east-eastern Myanmar. Arrived immediately after arrival. They stockpiled weapons, including ault salt rifles, as they marched down the dusty rural roads past Column Lum.
The Karen police force is under the control of the Karen National Union, one of many ethnic organizations that has been fighting for decades for greater autonomy for the central government. KNU is employed both politically and, through the armed wing, through the military to achieve its goals.
Large-scale protests have taken place in many cities and towns since Myanmar’s military seized power, and security forces have responded with more use of lethal force and mass arrests.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Sunday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck and arresting hundreds of protesters.
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