The protest continues unabated in Burma.
Thousands of Burmese again took to the streets on Monday February 15 to demand democracy, but the demonstrations were less massive than in previous days, the day after the deployment of troops by the junta in several cities.
In the largest of them, Yangon, which is also the economic capital, thousands of people gathered in front of the Chinese and United States embassies.
"Get out the dictator!", Could one read in particular on banners.
They were also thousands in front of the premises of the National League for Democracy (LND), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose civilian government was overthrown on February 1 by the army, which thus put an end to a fragile democratic transition of 10 years.
More than a thousand protesters have also gathered near the headquarters of the central bank.
Despite the threats, "the popular movements will not stop (...). We are not afraid of being arrested or shot," said Nyein Moe, a tourist guide.
The presence of soldiers supported by armored vehicles, however, curbed the enthusiasm, while companies sent emails to their employees urging them not to demonstrate.
Not to mention that the internet connections were cut for hours during the night from Sunday to Monday and in the early morning.
Other rallies took place elsewhere in Burma, such as in Naypyidaw, the administrative capital, where around 20 students were arrested, and in Mandalay, the second Burmese city, where the police, who used rubber bullets , injured at least six protesters, according to witnesses.
Aung San Suu Kyi kept in detention
Indicted for illegally importing walkie-talkies, Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, will be kept in detention until Wednesday following the postponement of a hearing, initially scheduled for Monday, her lawyer announced. , Khin Maung Zaw.
She is "in good health", under house arrest in Naypyidaw, however this weekend assured the NLD.
Fear of reprisals is omnipresent in Burma, a country that has already lived under the yoke of the military for almost 50 years since its independence in 1948.
Especially since the police have already violently dispersed gatherings by shooting at demonstrators since the coup.
A 20-year-old woman who was seriously injured last week is still in critical condition.
In addition, some 400 people - politicians, activists, doctors, students - were arrested in total.
And this despite the creation of citizen vigilance committees, whose members, residents of neighborhoods, are responsible for monitoring their neighborhood in the event of night operations aimed at questioning opponents.
"An internal matter"
The events in Burma also continue to worry the international community.
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has in this regard called on the army to "guarantee the right to assemble peacefully" and to "urgently" authorize the Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener to go there "to assess directly the situation ".
The United States, for its part, detailed, several days ago, a series of sanctions against several generals.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators had taken to the streets in recent days, the strongest sling wind since the "saffron revolution" - framed by monks - of 2007, while many officials went on strike in support of the movement.
In reaction, the putschist generals, who dispute the regularity of the November legislative elections, which were won overwhelmingly by the NLD, authorized searches without a warrant or detention for a short period without the green light from a judge.
On Monday, their leader, Min Aung Hlaing, an international pariah for the atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims in 2017, insisted that what was happening in Burma was "an internal affair".
With AFP
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