Burma | Anti-coup protesters defy threats of revenge

(Yangon) screams “Free Aung San Suu Kyi!” », Protesters took to the streets of Yangon again on Tuesday to protest against the military coup 1^{is being} February in Burma, defied threats to retaliate against the generals.

France Media

In the Sanzhong district of Burma’s economic capital, several teachers walked down the main street, making the famous three-toed salute a sign of resistance against the coup plotters, AFP journalists noted.

They defied the ban on gatherings of more than five people imposed by the army the previous day in the country’s main cities, which invoked “fraud” during the legislative elections in November to justify the coup.

But the army threatened to take revenge on the protesters. “Action must be taken […] State television said, “Against crimes that disturb, prevent and destroy the stability of the state.”

“Their warnings do not worry us, which is why we are coming out today. We cannot accept their excuse for rigging the elections. We do not want a military dictatorship,” said Thien Winon, one of the protesting teachers in San Chung, told AFP.

Martial law

Elsewhere in Yangon, other protesters gathered outside the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, dressed in red – the color of the National League for Democracy – and holding pictures of their imprisoned leader after he was ousted by the military.

In Naypyidaw, the capital, security forces used water cannons against a small group of pro-democracy protesters who refused to disperse in front of a security checkpoint, according to images broadcast on television.

And the soldiers declared martial law on Monday in several regions of Rangoon, the economic capital of Burma, and Mandalay (central), the country’s second city, as well as elsewhere. In addition to banning gatherings, a curfew is imposed from 8 PM to 4 AM.

The move came on the heels of a march of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators on Saturday and Sunday across Burma.

These winds of protest are unprecedented in Burma since the popular uprising of 2007, the “Saffron Revolution” led by monks and violently suppressed by the army.

The risk of repression is real. “We all know the military’s ability to do it: mass atrocities, killing civilians, enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary arrests,” said Tom Villarin of the parliamentarians group at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for Human Rights.

Since 1^{is being} In February, more than 150 people – lawmakers, local officials and activists – were arrested and remain in detention, according to the Rangoon-based Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners.

Army Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing spoke for the first time on Monday evening, the Army’s TV channel, Mayawadi.

He pledged to hold “free and fair elections” at the end of the year-long state of emergency, and promised a military system “different” from previous ones.

Burma has lived under the yoke of the army for nearly 50 years since its independence in 1948. Coup 1^{is being} February ended the short period of a decade of Democratic Arch.

The Libyan Democratic Party won an overwhelming majority in the legislative elections in November and international observers did not see any major problems during these elections.

In fact, the generals were afraid to see their influence diminish after the victory of Aung San Suu Kyi, who might have wished to amend the constitution in favor of the military.

The international community has been criticized recently for her passivity in the Rohingya Muslim crisis, and the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who is under house arrest for 15 years for opposing the junta, is still loved in her country.

According to her party, the former leader will be “in good health”, under house arrest in Naypyidaw.

The coup was condemned by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and many other countries.

New Zealand announced on Tuesday it was suspending its high-level military and political contacts with Burma, becoming the first country in the world to take a decision to dismiss the junta.

“After years of hard work building democracy in Burma, I think every New Zealander must feel devastated to see what the military has done in recent days,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda told reporters.