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Protests against the military takeover are mounting as nearly 300 politicians from the overthrown ruling party challenge the coup.
Lawyer for Myanmar’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint said the two were under house arrest and unable to meet them as hundreds of students and teachers gathered. joined to the demonstrations against the coup.
Lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said on Friday he was seeking the unconditional release of the duo, but was told they were still under investigation.
“We are waiting for justice from the judge, but it is not certain. We hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Of course we want unconditional release because they did not break the law, ”his lawyer told reporters in the capital, Naypyidaw.
Myanmar’s mobile operators and internet service providers later on Friday received a government directive to block access to Twitter and Instagram in the country until “further notice”, according to Norwegian telecom Telenor.
The announcement came a day after authorities ordered internet providers to block Facebook.
Supporters give roses to police as four arrested activists appear in Mandalay court [AP]
Meanwhile, nearly 300 members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party declared themselves the only legitimate representatives of the people and demanded international recognition as the country’s government as protests against the Military takeovers were intensifying.
They said they had appointed a committee to perform the functions of parliament, according to the NLD’s Facebook page.
In a letter to the United Nations and the international community posted on social media, the party also called for targeted sanctions and for companies to cut ties with the military, which has large and lucrative stakes.
Politicians were due to take their seats in a new session of parliament on Monday, when the military detained them and announced they would take power for a year.
Most of them have since been released.
On the streets of Myanmar, hundreds of students and teachers joined anti-coup protests on Friday to demand that the military hand power back to elected officials.
The protests have spread to several parts of the country, even in tightly controlled Naypyidaw.
Opposition to the coup began in Yangon, the country’s largest city, with people banging pots and pans outside their windows every evening to avoid being targeted. But now people are more vocal and visible, and students and medical staff have led the charge.
About 400 protesters in total gathered at two universities in Yangon, some waving a three-fingered salute, a sign of resistance borrowed from The Hunger Games films, which they adopted from anti-government protesters in neighboring Thailand.
They chanted “Long Live Mother Suu” – a reference to Suu Kyi – and “We don’t want a military dictatorship”.
Ethnic Affairs Ministry staff hold up signs with red ribbons as they pose for photos to protest the military coup in Naypyidaw [Stringer/AFP]
“We will never be with them,” speaker Nwe Thazin said of the military during a protest at Yangon University of Education. “We want this type of government to collapse as soon as possible.”
At Dagon University in the city, many papers bore images of red ribbons – the symbol of the civil disobedience campaign that activists and Suu Kyi’s party have called for.
“I think we will have to lead this movement,” said student Min Han Htet. “Everyone, including students, will have to bring down the military junta. We’ll have to make sure the Juntas never reappear in the next generation. “
There was also at least one demonstration Friday in Naypyidaw – highly unusual for the city, purpose-built by the previous military government – which has a strong military presence and lacks the tradition of protesting from the old capital, Yangon.
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