18 more killed in Myanmar protests
Ousted leader Suu Kyi slapped with two more charges in court
Myanmar police fired on protesters around the country on Sunday, killing at least 18 people, the United Nations said. Demonstrators came under fire in various parts of Yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up their protests. Across the country, protesters faced off against police and soldiers. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on member countries to act and do more.
Myanmar police fired on protesters around the country on Sunday and at least 18 people were killed in the worst violence since the Feb. 1 military coup, the United Nations said, calling on the international community to act to stop the repression.
On Monday, a Myanmar court filed two more charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, one of her lawyers said.
After she was charged with illegally importing two-way radios and violating coronavirus protocols, Suu Kyi was also slapped with violating a colonial-era code prohibiting the publication of information that may cause alarm. Later, she was accused of an infraction of a telecommunications law requiring license for the use of certain equipment.
Crowds of demonstrators came under fire in various parts of the biggest city of Yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up their protests.
Across the country, protesters wearing plastic work helmets and with makeshift shields faced off against police and soldiers in battle gear, including some from units notorious
for tough crackdowns on ethnic rebel groups in Myanmar’s border regions.
“Severe action will be inevitably taken” against “riotous protesters,” the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said. The army had previously shown restraint, but could not ignore “anarchic mobs.”
Several wounded people were hauled away in Yangon by fellow protesters, leaving bloody
smears on pavements, media images showed. One man died after arriving at a hospital with a bullet in his chest, said a doctor who asked not to be identified.
Lethal force
“Police and military forces have confronted peaceful demonstrations, using lethal force and less-than-lethal force that—according to credible information received by the UN human rights office—has left at least 18 people dead and over 30 wounded,” the UN human rights office said.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership on Feb. 1, alleging fraud in a November election her party won in a landslide.
The coup, which brought a halt to tentative steps toward democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, has drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets and the condemnation of Western countries.
Among at least five killed in Yangon was internet network engineer Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing, medics said. A day earlier he had asked on Facebook how many bodies it would take for the United Nations to take action.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres called on its members to do more.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned what he called “abhorrent violence” by Myanmar security forces.