Thousands of people opposed to Myanmar’s Feb. 1 military coup gathered again Sunday in towns north and south. They were not deterred by the bloody scene in Mandalay city the day before, when police and soldiers shot and killed two people.
Earlier Sunday, police arrested a prominent actor wanted for supporting opposition to the coup, while Facebook removed the military’s page in line with its standards against inciting violence.
Despite new election promises from the military and arrests and warnings of opposition dissidents, demonstrations and civil disobedience strikes against the coup and the detention of democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others have not been quelled.
Video footage reported in the media showed thousands of young people gathering in two locations in Yangon shouting slogans, while hundreds of young people also gathered peacefully in Mandalay, the second largest city.
In Myitkyina, a northern town where clashes have taken place in recent days, people laid flowers for dead protesters while young people rode around on motorcycles with placards in their hands.
Photos posted show crowds marching in the central towns of Menywa and Bagan, and in the south in Dawei and Myeik.
They are targeting the heads of unarmed civilians,” a young protester in Mandalay told the assembled crowd. They are aiming at our future.”
Military spokesman Zaw Min Htun said at a news conference Tuesday that the army’s action was constitutional and had majority support, and he condemned the protesters for inciting violence.
The more than two weeks of protests have been largely peaceful, a departure from several opposition demonstrations during nearly half a century of direct military rule before 2011.
Police arrested prominent actor Lu Min on Sunday, hours after two people were killed by gunfire after security forces opened fire with live ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons and slingshots.
Lu Min, who participated in protests in Yangon, is one of six celebrities wanted under the anti-sedition law. The military accused Lu Min of encouraging civil servants to take part in the protests. If convicted, he faces a two-year prison sentence.
A video on Lu Min’s Facebook page shows his wife saying that police have come to his Home and taken him away.
They forced their way in and took him away without telling me where they were taking him,” said Khin Sabai Oo, Lu Min’s wife. I couldn’t stop them. They didn’t tell me.”
About 500 police and soldiers gathered at a shipyard in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, on Saturday to disperse workers and other demonstrators, sparking an hour-long standoff.
Security forces used gunfire and other forms of force to disperse the crowd, killing two people and injuring more than two dozen, according to Ko Aung, head of the Irrawaddy news website and volunteer first aid group Parahita Darhi.
Demonstrators, local residents and journalists reportedly fled the area, pursued by security forces. Security forces attacked a group of journalists with slingshots and tear gas.
An activist group, the Political Prisoners Assistance Association, said 569 people were arrested, charged or sentenced Saturday in connection with the coup.
Security forces have been increasingly aggressive in their attacks on protesters since the detention of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior civilian government officials. Protesters have clashed with Burmese security forces. The military declared a one-year state of emergency, citing widespread fraud in last November’s general election, which was won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
The military’s request was rejected by Myanmar’s election commission.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the deadly violence. “The use of lethal force, intimidation and harassment against peaceful protesters is unacceptable,” he tweeted.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. is deeply concerned about reports that security forces fired on demonstrators and continue to detain and harass demonstrators and others.
Price tweeted, “We stand with the people of Burma.”
Britain said it would consider further action against violence against demonstrators. The French Foreign Ministry called the violence “unacceptable.”
In a tweet, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, “Shooting peaceful protesters in Burma is just pale in comparison.” He also wrote: “We will consider further action with our international partners to combat those who undermine democracy and stifle dissent.”
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