Burma’s military declares 1-year state of emergency, arrests Aung San Suu Kyi and others, White House statement
The Burmese military staged a coup to seize power. Senior State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and a number of senior party officials were arrested by the military in an early morning search operation, alleging that a number of elected leaders were involved in election fraud. The military has taken control of the government and parliament in many parts of the country, and has declared a one-year state of emergency with the transfer of state power to Defense Force Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing.
The U.S. has made clear its opposition to any attempt to reverse the election results or impede the transition to democracy, indicating that it will take action if the military does not set things right in a timely manner.
Eyewitnesses reported a large military presence at the Yangon city government offices in the major city of Yangon.
John Sifton, advocacy director for Human Right Watch in Asia, criticized the arrest of Aung San as a reflection of local political realities, saying that the Burmese military has not really left the center of power for decades. Japan, South Korea and other countries should also suspend investment in Myanmar.
Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that although the U.S. government has recently called on the military not to stage a coup against Aung San, it is not clear what specific actions the U.S. can take in response, considering that the U.S. has already sanctioned Myanmar’s military hierarchy.
Burma’s banks closed, phone signals cut, Internet half cut, many filmmakers arrested
In the early hours of Feb. 1, all banks across the country were declared closed after people rushed to banks to collect cash after Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior officials were detained by the military. Internet monitoring service NetBlocks revealed that the local Internet connection rate dropped to the usual 44 percent.
Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw and other places there is a widespread communication disruption, Myanmar banking system due to network instability to be temporarily closed, Singapore’s Asia News Channel reporter May Wong (May Wong) said, Yangon street flow significantly reduced, only the bank teller machine long queues, many people try to withdraw money, some people described many local people are panic rush to buy supplies.
Photo: Yangon has long lines of bank teller machines.
Aye Min Thant, a Burmese-American journalist for Reuters in Myanmar, said that Burma’s national television had cancelled all programs on Monday, and that local Internet service was very unstable, with journalists’ own Signal and Telegram accounts being automatically cancelled. More people than usual went shopping in the local markets. All National League for Democracy flags have disappeared from the market, and some bank teller machines have stopped operating.
Photo:After the coup in Myanmar, there were more than usual shopping crowds in the markets.
A Burmese journalist, who did not want to be named, said in an interview with the Central News Agency that the telephone signals in Burma have been cut off, and he chose not to be named for the interview because the situation is too sensitive, and even journalists may be arrested. He said he had heard that a number of people who shot the film had also been arrested. He is worried that the situation will worsen, and it is very serious this Time.
In addition, after the military coup in Myanmar, Thailand announced the closure of the border and the indefinite suspension of border trade.
Aung San Suu Kyi speaks out for the first time since her arrest, calls on people to resist the coup in full
On Feb. 1, soldiers with loaded weapons were stationed at Yangon City Hall.
Reuters reported that after Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest, Myanmar’s National League for Democracy party chairman Win Htein issued a statement signed by Aung San Suu Kyi through her Facebook account, saying that the Burmese people should not accept the military coup and should protest.
“The military’s action is an action to put the country back under dictatorial rule,” the statement said. “I urge people not to accept this and to respond and protest wholeheartedly against the military coup.” But the statement was not signed by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Democratic Alliance said the statement was written before the Feb. 1 coup and uploaded to a Facebook page the party used during the campaign.
In a handwritten note at the bottom of the statement, Win Htein stressed that the statement was authentic and reflected the wishes of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Recent Comments