Myanmar, the military junta against protesters: "Path where they will lose their lives"

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February 22, 2021: Myanmar's military junta has tightened its tone after a weekend of bloody violence, warning protesters that they risk their lives by taking to the streets.

Three weeks after the coup on the first day of February, the mobilization for democracy in the country shows no signs of weakness.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators protested yesterday and the civil disobedience campaign is also having serious repercussions on the state economy.

The military junta's warning came after two people were killed in Mandalay by police shooting, who opened fire on the crowd that took to the street, while another died in Yangon.

"The demonstrators are urging people, especially adolescents and young people, to undertake a path of confrontation, in which they will lose their lives", explained the military junta in a statement read on the public channel MRTV.

The text warned protesters against the temptation to incite the population to "revolt and anarchy".

UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said he was deeply concerned about these threats.

"Warning to the junta: unlike in 1988, the actions of the security forces are recorded and will have to be accounted for," he tweeted.

Yangon residents saw a tightening of the safety device, with a number of police and army trucks on the street.

Markets and shops should remain closed today in solidarity with the democracy movement.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Myanmar yesterday paid tribute to the first victim of military repression, a young man who has become an icon of the anti-junta resistance.

The funeral of Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, who was shot in the head and died on Friday after ten days in intensive care, took place on the outskirts of the capital Naypyidaw, in the presence of several thousand people.

About a thousand Catholics, including young people, nuns and religious, marched through the streets of Yangon to protest against the February 1st coup.

Cardinal Charles Bo reports it on social networks.

The archbishop reports that hundreds of Catholics also protested in another city, Mandalay.