One of the right arms of Aung San Suu Kyi, overthrown by a coup at the beginning of the week in Burma, was arrested on Friday February 5, while US President Joe Biden calls on the coup generals to "renounce power ", but let the UN lower its tone.

Four days after the force of soldiers, arrests continue in the country.

Win Htein, 79, a veteran of the National League for Democracy (LND), Aung San Suu Kyi's party, "was arrested at his daughter's home" in Yangon at dawn on Friday, the door said. - speech of the movement.

"I expect to be arrested, but I am not worried. We are used to the peaceful struggle", declared Wednesday on RFI Win Htein, who spent more than twenty years in detention under the junta from 1989 to 2010.

A total of 133 politicians, including members of parliament, were arrested from Monday to Thursday, according to data from the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, an NGO based in Yangon.

More than a dozen activists are also detained, she said.

Events in Burma remain at the heart of the international agenda.

Support from Beijing and Moscow

Joe Biden urged the putschist generals to "relinquish power," his administration considering "targeted sanctions" against certain military personnel.

But the UN has softened the tone.

The Security Council adopted a joint statement, expressing its "deep concern" and calling for the release of the detainees.

The text does not ultimately condemn the coup.

China and Russia have indeed opposed such a formulation, according to diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity.

Beijing remains Burma's main support at the United Nations, where it thwarted any initiative against the army during the Rohingya Muslim crisis.

The Burmese generals abruptly ended this week the fragile democratic transition of the country, which has already lived almost 50 years under military rule since its independence in 1948.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, held in solitary confinement since Monday, has been charged with breaking an obscure trade rule.

No major demonstration has taken place since the coup, fear of reprisals remaining strong.

But signs of resistance continued to spread.   

"National traitors sold to foreign countries"

However, the putsch also has its supporters.

Several hundred of them gathered Thursday in Naypyidaw, the capital.

"We no longer want national traitors sold to foreign countries," read the signs.

The head of the Burmese army, Min Aung Hlaing, who now concentrates most of the powers, justified his putsch by alleging "enormous" frauds during the legislative elections of November, won overwhelmingly by the NLD.

But international observers did not detect any major problems in this election.

In reality, the generals feared that, despite a constitution which was very favorable to them, their influence would diminish after the victory of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, analysts say.

With AFP

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