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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Thousands of people rallied Sunday against the military takeover in Myanmar’s largest city and demanded the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose elected government was overthrown by the army which also imposed an Internet blackout.
Crowds of protesters have grown bigger and bolder since Monday’s coup.
At least 2,000 union activists and students and members of the public chanted “Long Live Mother Suu” and “Down with the Military Dictatorship” at a large crossroads near Yangon University. They walked along a main road, traffic booming. The drivers honked in support.
Police in riot gear blocked the main entrance to the university. Two water cannon trucks were parked nearby.
Protesters held up placards calling for freedom for Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who were under house arrest and charged with petty crimes, seen by many as a legal veneer for their detention.
On Saturday, the new military authorities cut off most internet access, making Twitter and Instagram inaccessible. Facebook had already been blocked earlier in the week – but not completely effectively.
The U.S. Embassy has called on the military to relinquish power and restore the democratically elected government, release detainees, lift all telecommunications restrictions, and refrain from violence.
“We support the right of the people of Myanmar to demonstrate in support of the democratically elected government and their right to freely access information,” he said in a tweet.
The communications blockade is a stark reminder of the progress Myanmar is in danger of losing following Monday’s coup that returned the country to direct military rule after a nearly ten-year move towards more openness and of democracy. During the last five decades of Myanmar’s military rule, the country was internationally isolated and communications with the outside world were strictly controlled.
The five years at the helm of Suu Kyi since 2015 have been Myanmar’s most democratic times, despite the military maintaining broad powers, the continued use of repressive colonial-era laws and the persecution of Muslims. Rohingya minority.
Sunday’s rally took place a day after about 1,000 people – factory workers and students among them – marched through Yangon. They were greeted by more than 100 riot police.
No violence was reported. Protests of similar size took place in at least two other districts of Yangon as well as in Mandalay, the second largest city. At Yangon City Hall, protesters presented flowers to the police.
Nearly 300 MPs elected from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party were believed to have taken their seats last Monday in a new session of parliament after the November elections, when the military announced it was taking the lead. power for one year.
The military accused Suu Kyi and her party of failing to act on her complaints that the last election was tainted with fraud, although the election commission said it found no supporting evidence of these statements.
Lawmakers gathered in an online meeting on Friday to declare themselves the only legitimate representatives of the people and demanded international recognition as the government of the country.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pledged that the United Nations will do everything in its power to unite the international community and create the conditions to reverse the military coup in Myanmar.
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