YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar police stepped up crackdown on protesters against this month’s military takeover, which unfolded early and in effect on Saturday as protesters tried to rally in the two most populous cities. large in the country and elsewhere.
Security forces in some areas appeared to be more aggressive in using force and making arrests, using more plainclothes agents than had been previously revealed. Photos posted on social media showed that residents of at least two cities, Yangon and Monywa, resisted by erecting makeshift street barricades in an attempt to hinder police advance.
The crisis in Myanmar took a dramatic turn on the international stage at a special session of the UN General Assembly on Friday, when the country’s UN ambassador declared his loyalty to the ousted civilian government. Aung San Suu Kyi and asked the world to pressure the military to cede power.
There were arrests on Saturday in Myanmar’s two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay, where protesters have taken to the streets daily to peacefully demand the restoration of Suu Kyi’s government, the National League for Democracy party won a defeat. election in November. Police have been increasingly enforcing a board order banning meetings of five or more people.
Many other cities have also staged large protests against the February 1 coup.
Police in Dawei, in the southeast, and Monywa, 135 kilometers (85 miles) northwest of Mandalay, used force against protesters. Both cities, with a population of less than 200,000 each, have seen large demonstrations.
Social media brought unconfirmed reports of a protester shot dead in Monywa. The reports could not be immediately confirmed independently, but they appeared credible, with photos and identification of the victim. Monywa reports also said dozens or more people were arrested.
Military acquisition invested years of slow progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule. Suu Kyi’s party would have been installed for a second five-year term, but the army blocked the convening of Parliament and detained her and President Win Myint, as well as other members of her government.
At the New York General Assembly, Myanmar’s UN ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, said in an emotional speech to his fellow delegates that he represented Suu Kyi’s “people’s-elected civilian government” and supported the fight against military government.
He urged all countries to issue public statements strongly condemning the coup and refusing to recognize the military regime. He also called for stronger international measures to stop security forces violence against peaceful protesters.
He heard loud applause from many diplomats from the world body of 193 nations, as well as effusive praise from other Burmese on social media, who described him as a hero. The ambassador made a three-fingered greeting that he adopted the civil disobedience movement at the end of his speech in which he addressed the people back home in Burma.
On Saturday morning in Yangon, police began arrests at the intersection of Hledan Center, which has become the meeting point for protesters who then rush to other parts of the city. Police undertook similar actions in residential neighborhoods.
Security forces also tried to thwart protests in Mandalay, where blockades were set up at several key intersections and the usual places for rallies were flooded with police.
Buddhist monks stood out in Saturday’s march on Mandalay, as they have been regularly, giving moral authority to the civil disobedience movement that is challenging military rulers.
Mandalay has been the scene of several violent clashes, and at least four of the eight confirmed deaths related to the protests, according to the independent association of political prisoner assistance. On Friday, at least three people were injured, including two who were shot in the chest by rubber bullets and another who suffered what appeared to be a bullet wound to the leg.
According to the association, as of Friday, 771 people had been arrested, charged or sentenced at a given time in connection with the coup and 689 were detained or wanted for their arrest.
The board said it took power because last year’s polls were affected by massive irregularities. The election commission before the military took over the coup had refuted the charge of widespread fraud. The board dismissed members of the old commission and appointed new ones, which on Friday nullified the election results.
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Associated Press writer Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.