YANGON: Opponents of Myanmar's coup planned more protests on Saturday as international pressure on the military junta to halt its repression of pro-democracy supporters increased, with Asian neighbours joining Western countries in condemning lethal force.
Two people were killed when soldiers opened fire overnight in the northern ruby mining town of Mogok, the Myanmar Now news portal reported. That took the death toll since the Feb. 1 coup to 237, according to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.
The bloodshed has not quelled the anger over the ouster of the elected government and the detention of its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, though some protest organisers say they have to adapt their tactics.
"We protest where there are no police or military, then when we hear they're coming, we disperse quickly," campaigner Kyaw Min Htike told Reuters from the southern town of Dawei.
"I don't want to lose a single one of my comrades but we'll protest any way we can until our revolution prevails."
In other towns, people have been gathering at night to hold up candles and protest banners and pose for photographs before melting away.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned what he denounced as the military's continuing brutal violence. A "firm, unified international response" was urgently needed, his spokesman quoted him as saying.
U.N. rapporteur Tom Andrews called for sanctions to what he called the generals' ruthless attacks on the people.
"The world must respond by cutting their access to money and weapons. Now," he wrote on Twitter.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation condemning the coup and lawmakers decried the increasingly harsh tactics against the demonstrators.
Authorities have tightened restrictions on internet services, making information increasingly difficult to verify, and clamped down on private media.
Ambassadors of Western countries condemned the violence as "immoral and indefensible", in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial district of the commercial capital Yangon, where dozens were killed over several days after Chinese-owned garment factories were torched last weekend.
"Internet blackouts and suppression of the media will not hide the military's abhorrent actions," they said in a statement on Friday.
ASIAN ANGER
Asian neighbours, who have for years stuck to a code of not criticising each other's internal problems, have also been speaking out to urge an end to the violence.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, in some of the strongest comments yet by a regional leader, said he would ask Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to call an urgent meeting.
"Indonesia urges that the use of violence in Myanmar be stopped immediately so that there are no more victims," Jokowi said in a virtual address.
"The safety and welfare of the people must be the top priority."
Backing Indonesia's call for a meeting, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he was appalled by the persistent use of lethal violence against unarmed civilians.
Philippine foreign minister Teodoro Locsin said that ASEAN had to act.
Singapore has also spoken out against the violence and the coup that triggered it, calling for the release of Suu Kyi.
But the military has shown no sign of being swayed and has defended its takeover, which derailed a slow transition to democracy in a country that has been ruled by the army for most of its post-independence history.
It says a Nov. 8 election won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was fraudulent and its claims were ignored by the electoral commission. It has promised a new election but not set a date.
Suu Kyi, 75, faces accusations of bribery and other crimes that could see her banned from politics and jailed if convicted.
Her lawyer says the charges are trumped up. The Nobel peace laureate, who has campaigned for democracy in Myanmar for three decades, is being held at an undisclosed location.
Reuters
Sat Mar 20 2021
Riot police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, March 19, 2021. REUTERS pic
Polis kesan remaja lelaki hilang sejak enam hari lepas
Polis sedang berusaha mengesan seorang remaja lelaki yang dilaporkan hilang oleh keluarganya di Kuala Pilah sejak enam hari lepas.
[TERKINI] Sidang media khas FAM
FAM adakan satu sidang media khas petang nanti, difahamkan berkaitan rombakan. Kepimpinan tertinggi FAM atau barisan kejurulatihan skuad Harimau Malaya?
Penampilan pertama Trump di konvensyen GOP selepas terselamat cubaan bunuh
Donald Trump menghadiri Konvensyen Kebangsaan Republikan pada malam Isnin, penampilan umum pertamanya sejak terselamat daripada cubaan bunuh.
Malaysia pantau perkembangan insiden tembakan di Masjid Muscat
Wisma Putra melalui Kedutaan Besar Malaysia di Muscat, Oman sedang giat menyelaras usaha dengan pihak berkuasa tempatan untuk mendapatkan maklumat lanjut.
Ini antara pencapaian Pan-gon bersama Harimau Malaya
Kim Pan-gon memiliki rekod yang cukup baik bersama Malaysia, menjadi pengendali Harimau Malaya paling banyak mendapatkan keputusan yang positif sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini.
Kementerian Komunikasi umum Pakej Rahmah Prabayar Siswa
Kementerian Komunikasi hari ini mengumumkan Pakej Rahmah Prabayar Siswa pada harga tidak melebihi RM30.
Messi harap cepat pulih daripada kecederaan
Kapten Argentina, Lionel Messi berharap agar beliau cepat pulih daripada kecederaan buku lali yang dialaminya perlawanan akhir Copa America.
MARA diminta terus teroka potensi industri halal global - Ahmad Zahid
MARA diminta untuk terus meneroka potensi antarabangsa dalam industri halal yang mempunyai prospek besar menerusi program Gate to Global (GTG).
Saya akan rindu bau durian - Kim Pan-gon
Menurut Kim Pan-gon, beliau akan tetap bangga dengan pasukan bola sepak Malaysia walaupun dimana beliau berada.
Katanya beliau akan merindui bau durian dan langit Malaysia. #AWANInews
Katanya beliau akan merindui bau durian dan langit Malaysia. #AWANInews
Kim Pan-gon letak jawatan berikutan komitmen peribadi
Pengurus pasukan kebangsaan Malaysia, Kim Pan-gon menyatakan perletakan jawatan tersebut kerana komitmen peribadi.
#AWANInews
#AWANInews
Tiada pengosongan kerusi: Bersatu ambil tindakan undang-undang dalam masa terdekat
Bersatu konsisten menolak keputusan Speaker Dewan Rakyat, Tan Sri Johari Abdul dan menegaskan beliau tidak sepatutnya membuat keputusan sebegitu.
Pemilihan Bersatu: Peja undur diri, Hamzah bertanding Timbalan Presiden
Setiausaha Agung Bersatu, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin bakal 'naik pangkat' dan menyandang jawatan Timbalan Presiden parti pada pemilihan akan datang.
Pembangkang semakin dapat sokongan rakyat - Muhyiddin
Pembangkang semakin mendapat sokongan rakyat terutama orang Melayu berdasarkan situasi politik semasa ketika ini.
Pemilihan Bersatu: Saya sudah ada 'keputusan' - Muhyiddin
'Ilham' diperoleh selepas Muhyiddin bertemu dengan sebahagian besar Majlis Pimpinan Tertinggi (MPT) Bersatu, baru-baru ini.
Kekosongan kerusi Parlimen: Kerajaan Perpaduan tak isytihar sebab takut kalah - Muhyiddin
Muhyiddin dakwa, Kerajaan Perpaduan sanggup melanggar peruntukan Perlembagaan Persekutuaan berkait Akta Lompat Parti.
Isu dipecat Bersatu: 'PN jadikan kami ahli Parlimen Bebas' - 6 MP
Enam bekas ahli Parlimen Bersatu yang dipecat daripada parti itu menegaskan tidak akan menyertai mana-mana parti politik, sebaliknya akan terus berkhidmat sebagai wakil rakyat Bebas.
[KOLUMNIS] Sungai Bakap mengalir kecewa nasional
Kerajaan Perpaduan bukan tidak melakukan yang terbaik, tetapi gagal dalam naratif mereka.
Kedudukan enam bekas Ahli Parlimen Bersatu: Keputusan Speaker berdasarkan Perlembagaan - PM Anwar
Beliau juga minta Muhyiddin baca tafsiran undang-undang Perlembagaan Persekutuan mengenai Akta Anti Lompat Parti secara menyeluruh.
"Muhyiddin tak faham kebebasan bersuara Ahli Parlimen" - Nazri
Keputusan yang dibuat Johari itu bertepatan dengan semangat Akta Anti Lompat Parti yang diluluskan di Dewan Rakyat sebelum ini, kata Nazri.
'Saya harap diberi keputusan adil' - Muhyiddin
'Saya harap diberi keputusan adil' - Muhyiddin