Myanmar security forces open fire to disperse protesters

YANGON: Security forces in Myanmar stepped up their crackdown on anti-coup protesters on Monday (February 15), seeking to quell large-scale demonstrations calling for the military junta that took power earlier this month to reinstall the elected government.

More than 1,000 protesters were demonstrating in front of the Myanmar Economic Bank in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, when at least 10 trucks full of soldiers and police arrived and began slingshotting protesters before they even left the trucks. according to a photographer who witnessed the events.

Soldiers and police then attacked the protesters with sticks and slingshots, and police could be seen pointing long guns into the air amid sounds that resembled gunshots. Local media reported that rubber bullets were also fired into the crowd and that some people were injured.

Police were also seen pointing guns at protesters.

In the capital, Naypyidaw, protesters gathered outside a police station to demand the release of a group of high school students who were detained while participating in anti-coup activities.

A student who managed to escape told reporters that the students, who are believed to be between 13 and 16 years old, were peacefully demonstrating when a line of riot police suddenly arrived and began arresting them. It was unclear exactly how many students were rounded, but estimates put the figure between 20 and 40.

Earlier on Monday, Myanmar’s military leaders extended the detention of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose pretrial detention was about to expire and whose release is a key demand from the crowds of people who continue to protest the 1 coup. February.

Aung San Suu Kyi will now be in pre-trial detention until February 17, when she will likely appear in court by video conference, according to Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer who was asked by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party to represent her. The Nobel laureate remains under house arrest on a misdemeanor charge of possession of unregistered imported walkie-talkies.

At approximately 4 p.m., security forces surrounded the headquarters of the National League of Democracy (NLD) in Yangon, according to local reporters. It is believed that 16 people, legislators and members, were inside the premises.

The prolonged detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is likely to further inflame tensions between the military and protesters who have taken to the streets of cities across the Southeast Asian nation seeking the return of their elected government.

Protesters continued to gather across Myanmar on Monday, following a night in which authorities cut off the country’s internet access and increased the security presence in major cities seeking to reduce protests.

Thousands of engineers marched through the streets of Mandalay chanting and holding signs that read, “Free our leader,” “Who stands up for justice?” and “Stop illegally arresting people at midnight.”

In Yangon, the country’s most populous city, fewer protesters gathered on Monday due to the loss of the internet and reports of military vehicles on the streets. However, more than 1,000 anti-coup protesters were in front of the Myanmar Central Bank building, where there were also military trucks full of soldiers, riot police, trucks with water cannons and armored personnel carriers.

READ: Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi to face court this week: lawyer

The protesters carried banners reading “#SupportCDM #SaveMyanmar”. CDM refers to the civil disobedience movement that has seen doctors, engineers and others in Myanmar refuse to work until the military releases elected political leaders and returns the country to civilian rule.

Some protesters posed for photos in front of military vehicles while holding red signs reading “Join CDM.”

When the army seized power, it detained Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her government and prevented newly elected lawmakers from opening a new session of Parliament.

The board, led by Major General Min Aung Hlaing, said it intervened because the government did not properly investigate allegations of fraud in last year’s election, which Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won overwhelmingly. The state electoral commission refuted that claim, saying there is no evidence to support it.

READ: Myanmar experiences ‘near total internet shutdown’

The military justified their move by citing a clause in the 2008 constitution, implemented during the military government, which says that in cases of national emergency, the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government can be handed over to the military commander-in-chief.

It is just one of the many parts of the letter that ensured that the military could maintain final control over the country it ruled for 50 years after the 1962 coup. The military can appoint its members to 25% of the seats in the Parliament and controls several key ministries involved in security and defense.

An order on Sunday that appeared to be from the Ministry of Transport and Communications told mobile phone service providers to shut down Internet connections from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday. It circulated widely on social media, as did an ad from service provider Oredoo Myanmar containing the same details.

On Sunday, the ambassadors of the United States and Canada and 12 European nations called on the Myanmar security forces to refrain from exercising violence against those “protesting the overthrow of their legitimate government.”

They condemned the arrests of political leaders and activists, as well as the interference of the army in communications.

“We support the people of Myanmar in their quest for democracy, freedom, peace and prosperity,” they said in a joint statement issued Sunday night. “The world is watching.”