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YANGON: Myanmar’s military government deployed additional troops across the country and drowned out the internet for a second night in a row as it intensified its crackdown on anti-coup protests, but defiant protesters took to the streets again on Monday (February 15).
The army has steadily stepped up its efforts to quell an uprising against its seizure of power two weeks ago, in which civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained along with hundreds of others, including members of her democratically elected government.
Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint are expected to be questioned by a court “by video conference” in the country’s capital, Naypyidaw, this week, lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said, adding that he had been unable to contact either of the customers.
Neither has been seen in public since they were detained in morning raids on February 1, the day of the coup.
The generals imposed a multi-hour internet shutdown on Monday morning and increased the army’s presence across the country overnight, including armored vehicles in Yangon, the country’s largest commercial center and city.
On Tuesday, another internet blackout covered Myanmar, reducing connectivity to 15 percent of normal levels, according to the UK-based monitoring group NetBlocks.
“#Myanmar is in the midst of a near total internet shutdown for the second night in a row” at 1am local time, NetBlocks tweeted early Tuesday morning.
The closure comes after a day of protesters taking to the streets in defiance of the heavy troop presence in Yangon, although turnout was lower than in recent days.
The United Nations denounced the strangulation of the Internet.
UN envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener spoke with Myanmar Army Deputy Commander Soe Win, warning that “network blackouts undermine fundamental democratic principles,” said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq in New York.
The envoy noted that such closures “damage key sectors, including banking, and increase internal tensions. Therefore, we have made our concerns about this very clear,” Haq said.
“Patrolling with armored vehicles means they are threatening people,” Nyein Moe, 46, said among more than 1,000 gathered Monday in front of the Central Bank, looking at the armored vehicles parked there.
“We can’t stop now.”
Since the military detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and overthrew her government on February 1, the new regime has detained hundreds of protesters. (Photo: AFP / STR)
In the afternoon, news of a heavy police presence at the National League for Democracy (NLD) party city headquarters of Aung San Suu Kyi drew thousands of people to the scene.
They chanted “End the military dictatorship” while the officers stood guard.
“About seven police officers searched for about 30 minutes (for two parliamentarians),” NLD member Soe Win told AFP after security forces left without finding them. “Now everything is fixed.”
Across the country, people continued to take to the streets Monday to demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, with some incidents of violence.
A demonstration led by student groups in Naypyidaw was received in force after the meeting had withdrawn. Police also arrested dozens of young protesters, although some were later released.
Mandalay, the second largest city in the country, saw a clash that left at least six injured after police used slingshots against protesters and fired rubber bullets into the crowd.
The protesters retaliated by throwing bricks, said a member of the rescue team who helped the injured.
“One of them needed oxygen because he received a rubber bullet in the rib,” rescue team leader Khin Maung Tin told AFP.
Journalists at the scene also said that the police had beaten them in the riot.
‘CLOSURE OF INFORMATION ORDERED BY THE STATE’
NetBlocks reported on Monday that a “state-ordered information blackout” had taken Myanmar almost completely offline for about eight hours, before connectivity was restored at the beginning of the working day.
Tuesday’s internet blackout would be the fourth since February 1, when the military staged a coup and detained Aung San Suu Kyi, ending a fledgling democracy a decade after generations of military rule.
But cutting off internet connectivity, and an increase in arrests, has done little to quell the resistance that has seen huge crowds packed from large urban centers and isolated border villages alike.
Yangon residents go outdoors to protect neighbors from arrest after hearing an alarm from pots and pans banging. (Photo: AFP / STR)
The anti-coup movement has continued apace despite increasingly intense fears of a tougher crackdown, such as on Sunday night when troops in the northern city of Myitkyina fired tear gas and then fired at a crowd of protesters.
So far, more than 420 people, including striking workers, have been detained since the coup, according to the monitoring group of the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners.
WAR DECLARATION
A joint statement by the ambassadors of the United States, Great Britain and the European Union urged the security forces not to harm civilians.
Late on Monday night, the UK embassy in Myanmar took a tougher line, admonishing the regime for its attack on journalists and for imposing another internet blackout.
“The assault on freedom of expression must stop,” he tweeted.
UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews told AFP on Monday that he hopes Aung San Suu Kyi’s court hearing will be fair.
“There’s nothing fair about the board. This is theater. It’s just theater. And of course, nobody believes them,” Andrews said.
“In a somewhat ironic way, the generals have demonstrated their ability to unify the country in ways that I have never seen,” he added.
“They are a unifier. But unfortunately for them, the whole world is unified in opposition to them and in opposition to the idea of being under a brutal, military and authoritarian regime again,” Andrews said.
