Burma: the junta justifies the repression, the mobilization does not weaken
Two men on motorcycles alert anti-coup protesters as armed security forces arrive to quell a demonstration in Mandalay on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. AP
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In Burma, the bloodshed does not prevent the demonstrators from taking to the streets.
Since the putsch of February 1, mobilization has not weakened, and neither has repression.
This Tuesday in Mandalay, a 7-year-old girl died and at least one other person was killed.
But the junta persists and signs, ignoring international condemnations and sanctions now imposed on the army, in a rare public appearance on Tuesday.
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The hunt for peaceful demonstrators, the shooting of live ammunition, the disappearance of hundreds of Burmese, the junta justifies these atrocities in these terms: “
We must repress anarchy.
"
In a rare press conference, the spokesman for the regime said he was "
sad
" that the Burmese were killed, but, he said, they are "
terrorists
".
Zaw Min Tun reported 164 deaths, a record far below that of an independent NGO: the association for the assistance of political prisoners figures the number of victims at more than 260 civilians.
The junta has also not had the slightest word for the round of
sanctions
decided by the European Union.
Brussels has frozen assets and banned travel on its territory to eleven senior military personnel.
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See also: Burma: the EU sanctions the junta for the bloody repression of demonstrators
Thousands of Burmese were again in the streets on Tuesday, chanting: "
Freedom rather than fear
", on the eve of a new appearance of Aung San Suu Kyi, the icon of democracy in the eyes of the demonstrators.
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See also
: Burma: opposition to the junta increasingly active on social networks
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Burma
Aung San Suu Kyi