YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Protesters in Myanmar’s largest city came out on Monday night for their first mass protests challenging a curfew at 8pm, seeking to show support for some 200 students trapped by forces security in a small area of a neighborhood.
Students and other civilians previously took part in one of the many daily protests across the country against the army taking power last month that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The military government also put a major brake on media coverage of the crisis. He announced that the licenses of five local media outlets – Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News – have been canceled.
“These media companies are no longer allowed to transmit, write or give information through any kind of multimedia platform or with any media technology,” he told state broadcaster MRTV.
All five had been offering extensive coverage of the protests, often with live online videos. Myanmar Now authorities were attacked by authorities on Monday before the measure was announced. The government has arrested dozens of journalists since the coup, including a Myanmar Now journalist and Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, both accused under a public order law that carried a sentence of up to three years in prison.
Nighttime street protests began after police cordoned off part of the Sanchaung district of Yangon, and were believed to be conducting door-to-door searches for those fleeing security force attacks to seek refuge in the homes of sympathetic strangers.
News of his situation quickly spread on social media and people took to the streets of neighborhoods across the city to show solidarity and hoping to take some of the pressure off the hunted protesters. In some streets, they built makeshift barricades with everything available.
In the Insein district, they spread out at road junctions, singing songs, singing pro-democracy slogans and hitting objects together.
Diplomatic missions in the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union issued statements urging security forces to allow trapped people to return home safely. While everyone has harshly criticized the coup and police violence, it is rare for these diplomatic statements to be made in connection with a specific and ongoing incident.
“There is increased tension caused by the security forces surrounding Kyun Taw Road in Sanchaung Municipality, Yangon. We call on these security forces to withdraw and allow people to return home safely,” he said. say the statement of the US embassy.
At midnight in Myanmar, there had been no reports of clashes between police and protesters, although security forces chased crowds, harassed residents looking out of windows and fired stun grenades. Rubber bullet injuries were also reported.
The night hours have become increasingly dangerous in Myanmar. Police and military units routinely roam neighborhoods, shooting at random to intimidate residents and disturb their sleep and make specific arrests.
Security forces shot dead two people in northern Myanmar during the day, local media reported.
The online newspaper Irrawaddy said the victims were shot in the head during protests against the coup in Myitkyina, Kachin state. The graphic video on social media showed protesters moving away from the tear gas, responding with rocks and fleeing after a shooting of what appeared to be an automatic shot.
Protesters rushed to take the wounded, including an apparent death, a person with a serious head injury. A second body was later seen on a stretcher, with its head covered with a cloth.
Another shooting death took place in Pyapon, a city about 120 kilometers south of Yangon.
So far, violent government repression has left more than 50 protesters dead. According to the UN Office of Human Rights, at least 18 people were shot dead on 28 and 38 February.
Security forces also stopped protesters on Monday against the coup, firing tear gas to break up a crowd of about 1,000 people protesting in Pyinmana, a satellite city in the capital, Naypyitaw. Protesters deployed fire extinguishers to create a smokescreen as they fled the authorities.
Thousands of protesters marching on Mandalay, the second-largest city, dispersed on their own for fear that soldiers and police were planning to break up their demonstration with force.
Meanwhile, an armed force was deployed from one of Myanmar’s ethnic groups to protect protesters from the coup after brutal repression by the junta.
The Karen National Police unit arrived shortly after dawn to accompany some 2,000 protesters near Myitta, in the Tanintharyi region of southeastern Myanmar. They carried an assortment of firearms including assault rifles as they marched in front of the column on dusty rural roads.
Karen’s police force is under the control of the Karen National Union, one of many ethnic organizations that has been fighting for decades for greater central government autonomy. The KNU uses both political and military means to achieve its goals.
Large-scale protests have taken place daily in many cities and towns since Myanmar’s military took power, and security forces have responded with increasing use of lethal force and mass arrests.
On Sunday, police occupied hospitals and universities and were reportedly detaining hundreds of people involved in the protest for military takeover.