Opponents of the military regime in Myanmar wrote protest messages on Easter eggs on Sunday, while others were back on the streets, confronting security forces after a night of candlelight vigils for hundreds of people killed since the 1 May coup. February.
In the last of a series of improvised challenge shows, messages like “We must win”, “Spring Revolution” and “Get out MAH” were seen in eggs in photographs on social networks, the latter referring to the leader of the military junta Min Aung Hlaing. Easter is not widely observed in Myanmar, which is predominantly Buddhist.
The Association of Assistance for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an activist group that has monitored casualties and arrests since the military overthrew the elected government of Nobel winner Aung San Suu Kyi, said the death toll had risen to 557 by the end of Saturday.
“People across Burma have continued to fight for the end of the dictatorship, for democracy and for human rights,” said the group, using another name for the Southeast Asian country.
Despite the deaths, protesters continue to appear every day in cities large and small to reject the return of the military regime after a decade of attempts at democracy. Numerous candlelight vigils took place on Saturday night.
In the early hours of Sunday, hundreds of people protested in the country’s second city, Mandalay, some on foot, others on motorcycles, according to images on social media, before police and soldiers advanced to disperse them.
Protesters also met in several other cities.
There were no immediate reports of violence.
Police and a spokesman for the military junta did not take calls for comment.
Opponents of the military regime have also mounted a campaign of civil disobedience to strikes and often organize creative demonstrations of defiance, which on Easter Sunday extended to the eggs.
Meanwhile, the military is waging a campaign to control information and suppress dissent.
He ordered ISPs to cut wireless broadband from Friday, depriving most customers of access, although some messages and photos were still being posted and shared.
Authorities also issued arrest warrants for about 40 celebrities known to oppose the military regime, including social media influencers, singers and models, under a law against inciting dissent in the armed forces.
The charge, announced in the main evening news broadcast on state media on Friday and Saturday, could lead to three years in prison.
One of the defendants, blogger Thurein Hlaing Win, told Reuters he was shocked to see himself labeled a criminal on television and went into hiding.
“I didn’t do anything bad or bad. I was on the side of the truth. I followed the path in which I believe. Between good and evil, I chose good, ”he said by telephone, from an undisclosed location.
Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics
The military ruled the former British colony with an iron fist after seizing power in a 1962 coup until it began to withdraw from civilian policy a decade ago, freeing Suu Kyi from years of house arrest and allowing an election that his party won in 2015.
He says he had to overthrow the Suu Kyi government because a November election, again easily won by his party, was rigged. The electoral commission rejected the claim.
Suu Kyi is being held, facing charges that could result in 14 years in prison. His lawyer says the charges are forged.