Myanmar coup: Celebrities who oppose the military junta are added to the list of prisons

Myanmar coup: Celebrities who oppose the military junta are added to the list of prisons

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One of Myamar’s highest-paid actresses, she has offered financial aid to striking workers who have given up their jobs to join the growing civil disobedience movement, known as the CDM.

But on Thursday, Myanmar’s Oscar winner and her husband, director, Na Gyi, went into hiding after her name appeared on a list of prisons, along with several other celebrities who were accused of using their platform to oppose the blow.

A police statement on Wednesday said that Na Gyi, two other prominent directors, two actors and a singer, were wanted for “using their popularity and encouraging responsible public officials to participate in the CDM, encouraging public officials to participate in protests” .

The note from the Governing State’s Board of Directors said that information about the whereabouts of actor Payeti Oo, director Ko Pauk, actor Lu Min, director Wine, director Na Gyi and singer Anatga were necessary for the Myanmar Police Force .

They are being sought under a section of the country’s penal code that was amended this week by coup leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, in an apparent effort to target protesters, journalists and critics of the takeover.

Section 505a considers it a crime to “hinder, disturb, impair the motivation, discipline, health, conduct” of government officials and the military and “cause their hatred, disobedience or disloyalty” to the government or armed forces.

Paing Phyo Thu said that while “we know it is very dangerous to speak like this”, she will not stop – despite the arrest warrant and being forced into hiding.

Paing Phyo Thu went into hiding with her husband Na Gyi after an arrest warrant was issued.

“We can talk about our opinions, we don’t care, because from the first day of the military coup, we talk about it on our social media platforms because we want the public to know that we are with them and nobody likes it. It is such an unfair thing, “she said.

“There is no turning back. We decided that we will do this, we will fight until the end.”

For more than 50 years, Myanmar has been ruled by a series of isolationist dictators who have plunged the country further into poverty and brutally crushed any form of dissent. In 2011, the military began to open the country and to implement reforms that allowed democratic elections in 2015, in which the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi won an overwhelming victory and formed the first civilian government since 1962.

“Everyone can see the development. For example, all roads and education – everything was going to a brighter destination. We have been ruled by dictators for a long time,” said Paing Phyo Thu. “Then there was a military coup and we feel that we have lost our freedom, we have lost our democracy and we simply do not want to return to the dark age.”

Protesters salute with three fingers and chant slogans during an anti-coup protest in Sule Square on February 17, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar.
News of Na Gyi’s arrest warrant came after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Yangon and other cities on Wednesday, the biggest demonstration since the February 1 coup.

In Mandalay, security forces opened fire when confronting railway workers who had stopped trains as part of the civil disobedience movement, Reuters reported. Residents said a person was injured, but it is not clear what type of ammunition was used, the report said.

In the center of Yangon, thousands of people singing and holding posters with the image of Suu Kyi and banners with the words “Justice for Myanmar” and “Reject the military coup” marched to the Sule Pagoda, calling for his release and the military returning power to civilian control.

The mass march was called in response to a second indictment filed against Suu Kyi on Tuesday. Her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said she was charged under a national disaster law, in addition to a previous charge under the country’s import and export law.

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