Protesters in Yangon call for the release of Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Credit: SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Myanmar’s major cities for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday, after a fearful night as residents formed patrols and the army rolled back laws protecting freedoms.
Thousands of people from Myanmar living in Japan also marched in downtown Tokyo on Sunday to protest the military coup back home, with some holding photos of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and signs deploring the loss of human rights.
In Myanmar, engineering students marched through downtown Yangon, the biggest city, wearing white and carrying placards demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since Myanmar’s military overthrew her elected government on February 1.
Part of the biggest street protests in more than a decade, a fleet of highway buses rolled slowly through the city, honking their horns in protest.
A convoy on motorbikes and in cars drove through the capital Naypyitaw. In the southeastern coastal town of Dawei, a band played drums in shadows cast by awnings as crowds marched under the hot sun. In Waimaw, in the far northern Kachin state on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, crowds carried flags and sang revolutionary songs.
Protesters have taken to the streets of Tokyo
Credit: Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images
Many of the protesters nationwide held up images of Suu Kyi’s face.
Her detention, on charges of importing walkie-talkies, is due to expire on Monday. Her lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, could not be reached for comment on what was set to happen.
More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said, in a wave of mostly nightly arrests.
"While the international community is condemning the coup, Min Aung Hlaing is using every tool he has to instigate fears and instabilities," activist Wai Hnin Pwint Thon from the UK-based rights group Burma Campaign UK said on Twitter, referring to the army chief.
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‘Stop kidnapping people at night’
Many protesters in Yangon carried signs calling on authorities to “stop kidnapping people at night”.
Residents banded together late on Saturday to patrol streets in Yangon and the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay, fearing arrest raids as well as common crime after the junta ordered the release of thousands of prisoners.
In different neighbourhoods, groups of mostly young men banged on pots and pans to sound the alarm as they chased down what they believed to be suspicious characters.
Worries about criminal activity have soared since Friday, when the junta announced it would free 23,000 prisoners, saying the move was consistent with “establishing a new democratic state with peace, development and discipline” and would “please the public”.
Unverified pictures on social media have fuelled rumours that criminals are trying to stir unrest by setting fires or poisoning water supplies.
Tin Myint, a resident of Sanchaung township in Yangon, was among the crowds who detained a group of four people suspected of carrying out an attack in the neighbourhood.
"We think the military intends to cause violence with these criminals by infiltrating them into peaceful protests," he said.
He cited pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, when the military was widely accused of releasing criminals into the population to stage attacks, later citing the unrest as a justification for extending their own power.
Three people in different parts of Yangon said they had seen drones hovering above the crowds. "It was flying up and down and filming the crowd chasing after thieves," said 30-year-old Htet, who asked to be identified by only one name.
The government and army could not be reached for comment.
Also late on Saturday, the army reinstated a law requiring people to report overnight visitors to their homes, allowed security forces to detain suspects and search private property without court approval, and ordered the arrest of well-known backers of mass protests.
The coup has been denounced by Western countries, with the United States announcing some sanctions on the ruling generals and other countries also considering measures.
Burmese in Japan march in protest of military coup
The gathering in Tokyo on Sunday, which started in a park and trailed through busy streets thronged by police, was the latest in a series of protests in a nation that more than 33,000 Burmese have made their home.
"I don’t like the military government," said Sum Lut Htu Ti, a restaurant worker who has lived in Japan for three decades.
Activists in Tokyo take part in a protest against the military coup
Credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP
She was marching in a large contingent of the Kachin ethnic group, wearing colourful traditional clothing.
"I want to fight with her," she said of Suu Kyi, the nation’s de facto leader who remains in detention following the February 1 coup.
The recent demonstrations in Tokyo appear to be growing, drawing more people each time. A few days ago, they gathered holding artificial candles and glow sticks in an evening vigil.
Sunday’s gathering also drew some Japanese protesters, including representatives from labour unions, who shouted slogans demanding freedom for Suu Kyi and promised solidarity.
They said they hoped the Japanese government and people would try to help Myanmar by rejecting and putting pressure on the junta, including with economic sanctions.
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