Santa Cruz Sentinel

Protesters defy curfew; media outlets ordered shut

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Demonstrat­ors in Myanmar’s biggest city came out Monday night for their first mass protests in defiance of an 8 p.m. curfew, seeking to show support for an estimated 200 students trapped by security forces in a small area of one neighborho­od.

The students and other civilians earlier took part in one of the many daily protests across the country against the military’s seizure of power last month that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military government also placed a major curb on media coverage of the crisis. It announced that the licenses of five local media outlets — Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News — have been canceled.

“These media companies are no longer allowed to broadcast or write or give informatio­n by using any kind of media platform or using any media technology,” it said on state broadcaste­r MRTV.

All five had been offering extensive coverage of the protests, often with live steaming video online. The offices of Myanmar Now were raided by the authoritie­s Monday before the measure was announced. The government has detained dozens of journalist­s since the coup, including a Myanmar Now reporter and Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, both of whom have been charged under a public order law that carried a penalty of up to three years in prison.

The night’s street protests began after police cordoned off part of Yangon’s Sanchaung neighborho­od and were believed to be conducting door-to-door searches for those who fled attacks by security forces to seek shelter in the homes of sympatheti­c strangers.

News of their plight spread quickly on social media, and people poured into the streets in neighborho­ods all over the city to show solidarity and in hopes of drawing some of the pressure off the hunted protesters. On some streets, they constructe­d makeshift barricades with whatever was at hand.

In the Insein district, they spread across road junctions, singing songs, chanting pro-democracy slogans and banging objects together.

The diplomatic missions of the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union all issued statements urging the security forces to allow the trapped people to return safely to their homes. Although all have been sharply critical of the Feb. 1 coup and police violence, it is unusual for such diplomatic statements to be issued in connection with a specific, ongoing incident.

“There is heightened tension caused by security forces surroundin­g Kyun Taw Road in Sanchaung Township, Yangon. We call on those security forces to withdraw and allow people

to go home safely, “said the U.S. Embassy’s statement.

By midnight Myanmar time, there had been no reports of clashes between police and protesters, although security forces chased crowds, harassed residents watching from windows, and fired stun grenades. They also were some reports of injuries from rubber bullets.

The nighttime hours have become increasing­ly dangerous in Myanmar. Police and army units routinely range through neighborho­ods, shooting randomly to intimidate residents and disrupt their sleep, and making targeted arrests.

Security forces shot and killed two people in northern Myanmar during the day, local media reported.

The Irrawaddy online newspaper said the victims were shot in the head during anti-coup protests in Myitkyina in Kachin State. Graphic video on social media showed protesters backing away from tear gas, responding with rocks and then fleeing after a fusillade of what seemed to be automatic gunfire.

Demonstrat­ors hurriedly

carried away the injured, including one apparent fatality, a person with a severe head wound. A second body was seen later on a stretcher, his head covered with a cloth.

Another shooting death took place in Pyapon, a city about 75 miles south of Yangon.

To date, the government’s violent crackdown has left more than 50 protesters dead. At least 18 people were fatally shot Feb. 28 and 38 on Wednesday, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office.

Security forces also clamped down on anticoup protesters elsewhere Monday, firing tear gas to break up a crowd of about 1,000 people demonstrat­ing in Pyinmana, a satellite town of the capital, Naypyitaw. The protesters deployed fire extinguish­ers to create a smokescree­n as they fled from authoritie­s.

Thousands of protesters who marched in Mandalay, the second-largest city, dispersed on their own amid fears that soldiers and police were planning to break up their demonstrat­ion with force.

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 ?? THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Protesters are dispersed as riot police fire tear gas during a demonstrat­ion in Yangon, Myanmar on Monday.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Protesters are dispersed as riot police fire tear gas during a demonstrat­ion in Yangon, Myanmar on Monday.

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