The Burmese military on Tuesday (March 23) accused anti-junta protesters of violence and said the deaths of protesters were “sad.
According to Reuters, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun condemned the violence and arson by protesters at a press conference in the Burmese capital Naypyidaw, saying nine members of the security forces were killed.
Also at the press conference, the military displayed seized homemade weapons and said its efforts to stop the protesters were justified, according to the Associated Press.
But Zaw Min Tun also said that 164 protesters were killed and that their deaths were sad because the protesters were “our nationals,” too.
The Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy group that tracks violence in Burma, said at least 261 protesters had died in the violent crackdown as of March 22.
Reuters also reported that Zaw Min Tun accused the media at the meeting of creating “fake news” and inciting unrest. He said journalists could be prosecuted if they had links to the Committee of Representatives of the Union Parliament of Burma (CRPH). The CRPH is a legislative body formed by lawmakers who oppose the military government and is led by 17 lawmakers from the National League for Democracy, which won the 2020 elections in Myanmar, according to information. The military has declared the committee an illegal organization.
The military also renewed accusations at a press conference that ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi had taken bribes. In a video shown by the junta, former Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein said he had visited Aung San Suu Kyi several times and gave her money “whenever needed. Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyer has previously denied the allegations.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the Feb. 1 military coup, and protesters against the coup have continued to take to the streets in protest despite the military’s forceful crackdown.
Protesters held pre-dawn protests in Yangon, Burma’s largest city, and elsewhere on Tuesday, which appeared to be uninterrupted.
But Monday’s protests were marred by bloodshed. Reuters reported that riots in Mandalay, Burma’s second-largest city, killed at least three people on Monday, including a teenage boy. In some other towns, people also released balloons that carried messages calling for international aid.
The European Union Council on Monday announced sanctions against 11 people involved in the Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar. The EU said the imposition of sanctions on Burmese officials, along with a series of ongoing EU diplomatic contacts, is a strong EU response to the illegal overthrow of a democratically elected government and a strong EU response to the Burmese junta’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters.
Ten of the 11 people sanctioned are senior officers in the Myanmar Defense Forces, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and Deputy Commander Soe Win. Another person in addition to the 10 is U Thein Soe, the newly appointed chairman of the Burmese military’s election commission.
The U.S. also announced on Monday sanctions against two other individuals and two infantry divisions associated with the Burmese military. The two individuals are Than Hlaing, the Burmese military’s newly appointed police chief and deputy interior minister, and Lieutenant General Aung Soe, commander of the Special Operations Directorate.
The U.S. announced sanctions against the Burmese military government in February of this year. Last week, the U.S. also imposed sanctions on two adult children of Burma’s army commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing.
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