TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS TOOK TO THE STREETS ACROSS MYANMAR ON SUNDAY TO DENOUNCE LAST WEEK’S MILITARY COUP AND DEMAND THE RELEASE OF THE COUNTRY’S ELECTED LEADER, AUNG SAN SUU KYI.
Rallies call for release of leader Suu Kyi
Tens of thousands of people rallied across Myanmar on Sunday to denounce last week’s coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the biggest protests since the 2007 Saffron revolution that helped lead to democratic reforms.
In a second day of widespread protests, crowds in the biggest city, yangon, sported red shirts, red flags and red balloons, the colour of Suu Kyi’s National League for democracy Party (NLD).
On Sunday afternoon, the junta ended a daylong blockade of the internet that had further inflamed anger since the coup last Monday that has halted the Southeast Asian nation’s troubled transition to democracy and drawn international outrage.
Pope Francis expressed “solidarity with the people” on Sunday and asked Myanmar’s leaders to seek “democratic” harmony.
Huge crowds from all corners of yangon gathered in townships, filling streets as they headed toward the Sule Pagoda at the heart of the city, also a rallying point during the buddhist monkled 2007 protests and others in 1988.
A line of armed police with riot shields set up barricades, but did not try to stop the demonstration.
There was no comment from the junta in the capital Naypyidaw, more than 350 kilometres north of yangon.
An internal note for un staff estimated that 1,000 people joined a protest in Naypyidaw while there were 60,000 in yangon alone. Protests were reported in the second city of Mandalay and many towns and villages across the country of 53 million.
The yangon protesters dispersed after dark, saying they would return if their demands are not met.
The demonstrations have largely been peaceful, unlike the bloody crackdowns in 1998 and 2007.
but shots were heard in the southeastern town of Myawaddy as uniformed police with guns charged a group of about 200 protesters, live video showed. Pictures of protesters afterwards showed what appeared to be rubber bullet injuries.
With no internet and official information scarce, rumours have swirled about the fate of Suu Kyi and her cabinet.
A story that she had been released drew crowds out to celebrate on Saturday, but it was quickly quashed by her lawyer.
Suu Kyi, 75, faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkies and is being held in police detention for investigation until Feb. 15. Her lawyer said he has not been allowed to see her.
Army commander Min Aung Hlaing carried out the coup on the grounds of fraud in a Nov. 8 election in which Suu Kyi’s NLD won a landslide.