Protests swell across Myanmar in defiance of junta’s ‘lethal’ threat
Protesters have gathered in Myanmar' s biggest city despite the ruling junta's threat to use lethal force against people who join a general strike against the military's takeover three weeks ago.
More than 1,000 protesters gathered near the US embassy in Yangon despite barriers blocking the way, but left to avoid a confrontation after 20 military trucks with riot police arrived nearby.
Protests continued in other parts of the city, including next to Sule Pagoda, a traditional gathering point.
Factories, workplaces and shops were closed across the country yesterday in response to the call for a nationwide strike. The closures extended to the capital, Naypyitaw.
The junta had warned against a general strike in a public announcement on Sunday night on state television broadcaster MRTV.
"It is found that the protesters have raised their incitement towards riot and anarchy mob on the day of February
22. Protesters are now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, to a confrontation path where they will suffer the loss of life," the onscreen text said in English, replicating the spoken announcement in Burmese.
The junta's statement also blamed criminals for past protest violence, with the result that "the security force members had to fire back". Three protesters have been fatally shot.
Vehicles cruised the streets of Yangon on Sunday night, blaring similar warnings.
The protest movement, which seeks to restore power to the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and have her and other leaders released from detention, has embraced non-violence.
The nationwide strike was dubbed Five-twos, for the five number twos in the numeric form of Monday's date.
"I am joining the 22222 nationwide protest as a citizen of the country. We must join the protest this time without fail," said 42-year-old Zayar, who owns a bottled water
business in the capital. "So I've closed down my factory and joined the demonstration."
Zin Mi Mi Aung, a 27-yearold saleswoman, also joined the strike.
"We don't want to be governed by the regime," she said as people marched and chanted behind her. "We will fight against them until we win."
Thousands of people gathered in the capital's wide boulevards, many on motorbikes
to allow swift movement in the event of any police action.
Reports and photos of protests, some very large, in at least a dozen cities and towns were posted on social media. In Pyinmana, a satellite town of Naypyitaw, police chased people through the streets to arrest them.
The general strike was an extension of actions called by the Civil Disobedience Movement,
a loosely organised group that has been encouraging civil servants and workers at state enterprises to walk off their jobs. Many transport workers and white collar workers have responded to the appeal.
The ominous signs of potential conflict drew attention outside Myanmar, with the US reiterating that it stood with the people of Myanmar, also known as Burma.