YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Nonviolent resistance to Myanmar’s military coup gained momentum on Friday, with public protests extending to several regions, including the tightly controlled capital, Naypyitaw.
The military tried to crack down on the opposition with selective arrests and blocking access to Facebook to prevent users from organizing protests. Facebook is the main tool for accessing information on the internet, where traditional media is controlled by the state or intimidated by threats of legal action by the state.
The last politician arrested is Win Htein, a senior member of the deposed governing party, the National League for Democracy. He was seized at his home in Yangon, the country’s largest city, and taken to Naypyitaw on Friday morning, party spokesman Kyi Toe announced.
The seizure of power by the military on Monday began with the pre-trial detention of senior government officials and politicians, including the country’s leader, State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi. She is healthy and remains under house arrest at her official residence in Naypyitaw, said Kyi Toe.
Win Htein, 79, is a longtime confidant of Suu Kyi and has publicly called for civil disobedience in opposition to Monday’s coup. He told British BBC radio on a phone call on Friday that he was being arrested for sedition, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
In Yangon, some 200 teachers and professors held up posters on Friday in support of civil disobedience and saluted with three fingers, signifying resistance, a gesture they adopted from anti-government protesters in neighboring Thailand.
“We do not accept a government formed by themselves after they illegally seized power with weapons from the government chosen by the public,” said lecturer Dr. Nwe Thazin on the military. “We will never be together with them. We want this type of government to collapse as soon as possible. “
At the same time, nearby, a small number of employees at a university hospital made their own demonstration. They held signs saying “Protect Democracy” and “Reject the military coup”.
Demonstrators for three nights in a row showed their anger by hitting pots and pans in the neighborhoods of Yangon under the cover of darkness. Unconfirmed posts on social media said some participants in Thursday’s protests were detained by police.
There were also demonstrations in the capital Naypyitaw on Friday, where medical staff from the city’s largest hospital gathered behind a large banner condemning the coup. Medical personnel are at the forefront of the civil disobedience campaign.
The city of Naypyitaw was built under a previous military government to be the administrative capital of Myanmar, which was its largest city, Yangon, until 2005. The capital is heavily militarized and lacks the tradition of political protest that Yangon had for almost a century.
Another protest was held in the Tanintharyi region of southern Myanmar, where about 50 people chanted marched, reported online news agency Dawei Watch.
According to the Myanmar Political Prisoner Assistance Association, at least 133 officials or lawmakers and 14 civil society activists have been detained by the military in connection with its acquisition, although some have already been released. The NLD said Suu Kyi and deposed President Win Myint are being held on minor charges, unrelated to their official duties, which will allow them to be detained until at least mid-February.
The acquisition was criticized by President Joe Biden and other internationals who pushed for the restoration of the elected government.
“The Burmese military must renounce the power they have taken, release the defenders, activists and officials they have held, lift restrictions on telecommunications and prevent violence,” said Biden on Thursday at the US State Department in Washington, using the name Myanmar.
The UN Security Council, in its first statement on the matter, “emphasized the need to defend democratic institutions and processes, avoid violence and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law”. Although the United States and others described the military actions as a coup, the Security Council’s unanimous statement did not.
The military seized power shortly before a new session of Parliament met on Monday, declaring that their actions were legal and constitutional because the Suu Kyi government refused to address voting irregularities. The state election commission refuted allegations of wrongdoing and confirmed that Suu Kyi’s party had won an overwhelming victory.
The military assumed all state powers, including legislative functions, during a one-year emergency. He also formed a new electoral commission to investigate his allegations of irregularities in the vote and said he would hold a new election at the end of the state of emergency and hand over power to the winner.
Myanmar was under military rule for five decades after a 1962 coup, and Suu Kyi’s five years as leader was his most democratic period, despite the continued use of colonial-era repressive laws.