[ad_1]
YANGON: Opponents of Myanmar’s military coup called for more major protests on Wednesday (February 17) to show that the army’s claim of widespread public support for ousting elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and holding new elections was false.
They expressed skepticism of the board’s promise at a press conference on Tuesday that there would be fair elections and handing over power, even as the police brought an additional charge against Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, detained since the Feb. 1 coup, now faces one charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Act, as well as charges of illegally importing six walkie talkie radios.
At a video conference hearing on Tuesday, his next hearing was scheduled for March 1.
“Let us rally in millions to take down dictators,” wrote activist Khin Sandar on Facebook.
Kyi Toe, a high-ranking member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party who has not yet been arrested, said: “Let us march en masse. Let us show our strength against the coup government that has destroyed the future of the youth, the future of our country “.
The coup that interrupted the Southeast Asian country’s shaky transition to democracy has sparked daily demonstrations since February 6, some of which draw hundreds of thousands of people.
READ: UN envoy issues warning to Myanmar after Aung San Suu Kyi struck with new charge
People lie on the ground while taking part in a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on February 16, 2021. (Photo: Reuters)
The army’s takeover has also drawn strong Western criticism, with renewed anger from Washington and London at the additional post of Aung San Suu Kyi. Although China has taken a softer line, its ambassador to Myanmar on Tuesday dismissed accusations that it supported the coup.
Hundreds of people have been detained by the army since the coup, many of them in night raids. Among those arrested are a large part of the top executives of the NLD.
The Myanmar Political Prisoners Assistance Association said more than 450 arrests had been made since Tuesday’s coup. A third night of internet blackout meant no news of any arrests emerged early Wednesday.
The army seized power on the grounds of fraud in the November 8 elections, an accusation rejected by the electoral commission. The army said its declaration of the state of emergency was in line with the constitution that paved the way for democratic reforms.
“Our goal is to hold elections and hand over power to the winning party,” Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the ruling council, said at the board’s first press conference since it toppled the government of Aung San Suu Kyi. He did not give a time frame, but said that the army would not be in power for long.
The last stretch of the army’s rule lasted almost half a century before the democratic reforms in 2011.
RETURN UNDER HOME ARREST
Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, spent nearly 15 years under house arrest for her efforts to end the military regime.
Ruling council spokesman Zaw Min Tun dismissed the suggestion that she and the ousted president Win Myint were in custody, saying they were at home for their safety while the law ran its course. The president also faces charges under the natural disaster law.
The United States was “concerned” by reports of the additional criminal charge against Aung San Suu Kyi, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. Washington imposed new sanctions last week on the Myanmar military. No additional measures were announced on Tuesday.
READ: Myanmar’s situation ‘is not what China wants to see’: Ambassador
Myanmar’s military spokesman, Gen. Zaw Min Tun, attends a press conference in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on February 16, 2021 (Photo: Reuters).
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also condemned the new criminal charge, saying it was “fabricated” by the military.
In addition to demonstrations in towns in this ethnically diverse country, a civil disobedience movement has sparked strikes that paralyze many government functions.
The riots have revived memories of the bloody crackdown on protests under the previous junta.
The police have opened fire several times, mainly with rubber bullets, to disperse the protesters. A protester who was shot in the head in Naypyitaw last week is not expected to survive.
Six people were injured in the central city of Maungmya on Tuesday when police fired rubber bullets to break up a protest by an arrested teacher, a witness said. An army statement said protesters threw stones at police and injured some officers.
Zaw Min Tun said a policeman had died from injuries sustained during a protest in Mandalay on Monday.
He said protesters were initiating violence while the civil disobedience campaign amounted to illegal intimidation of public officials.
