The United Nations Security Council called for the release of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others detained by the military as diplomatic and financial pressure grew on the generals who seized power this week to restore democracy.
PROTESTS against the military coup in Myanmar continued to spread today despite further high-profile arrests, including that of senior Aung San Suu Kyi ally Win Htein.
Win Htein, a leading figure in Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, said he had been arrested for sedition. Ms Suu Kyi was arrested on Monday when the army seized power, claiming elections the NLD won last year were fraudulent.
In Yangon today, an estimated 200 teachers and professors held signs supporting civil disobedience and flashed a three-fingered salute signifying resistance, a gesture they adopted from anti-government protesters in neighbouring Thailand, where a harsh crackdown has so far failed to crush a swelling democracy movement.
February 5, 2021 Share
Nonviolent resistance to Myanmar’s military coup gathered steam Friday, with public protests extending to several regions, including the tightly controlled capital, Naypyitaw.
The military has tried to quash opposition with selective arrests and by blocking Facebook access to prevent users from organizing protests. Facebook is most people’s primary tool for accessing information on the internet, where traditional media is state-controlled or intimidated by threats of legal action by the state.
The latest politician detained is Win Htein, a senior member of the deposed ruling party, the National League for Democracy. He was seized at his home in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, and taken to Naypyitaw early Friday, party spokesman Kyi Toe announced.