Barricades are erected by protesters in Yangon.
President Win Myint, who fell in a military coup last month, has been charged with two additional counts. Anti-coup protests continue in Yangon, Burma’s largest city, and Mandalay, Burma’s second-largest city, where the military government has fired tear gas at people and video has surfaced showing security forces in Yangon firing warning shots. (Fang Dehao reports)
Reuters reported that Win Myint is facing two new charges, including violating the constitution; he was earlier charged with one violation of the Epidemic restriction order, and now faces at least three charges; among them, the maximum penalty for violating the constitution is three years in prison.
Win Myint’s lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, said Wednesday (March 3) that the military government has not yet scheduled a trial for the case. Win Min was arrested along with Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, just hours before the military staged a coup.
On Wednesday, police in Yangon used tear gas to disperse anti-coup protesters in the morning. Reuters quoted journalists on the scene as saying that security forces had fired several warning shots at one of the demonstration sites in the city.
In Mandalay City, a large number of teachers and students wearing caps with the civil disobedience movement gestures gathered in the streets, police used tear gas to disperse the protesters, and water cannon trucks were ordered to the scene. Myanmar media Now pointed out that the military and police had used rubber bullets to suppress the demonstration, and at least nine people were injured, while protesters in the southern city of Tuva trampled on photos of military generals to express their discontent.
The 10 ASEAN foreign ministers held a special video conference on Tuesday, after which they issued a joint statement calling for restraint by all sides in Myanmar. Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, appointed by the military, reiterated at the meeting that last year’s election was irregular and had publicly called on the international community to act. Myanmar’s permanent representative to the UN, Kyaw Maung Tun, who opposes the military coup, wrote to the UN, stressing that he remains Myanmar’s legitimate permanent representative to the UN and criticizing the military for staging the coup against the democratically elected government, saying the military has no right to revoke the president’s legitimate authority.
Guterres, the UN secretary-general, also received notice from the Burmese military government that he was removing Kyaw Moe Tun from his post and appointing his deputy to act as permanent representative to the UN.
At least 1,300 people have been arrested and at least 21 people have died since the coup in Burma.
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