Reports of police firing into air at Yangon protest as UK imposes more sanctions on generals who led the February 1 coup.
Shots were fired at a demonstration in Yangon on Friday as police cracked down on continuing anti-coup protests, and the United Kingdom announced new sanctions on the Myanmar generals who seized power on February 1.
Local media reported incidents around Myanmar’s biggest city, where there was a heavy security presence, saying shots had been fired into the air in Hledan, one of the main rallying points for the protesters. Police were also out in force in Myaynigone, while some residents barricaded the lanes around their neighbourhoods.
Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets across Myanmar in opposition to the coup with many workers also going on strike as part of a nationwide civil disobedience movement. Activists hope a mass walkout by civil servants including tax officers, doctors and teachers will make it nearly impossible for the military to keep the country running.
Tension has been rising over the past week with at least two people killed in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city, last weekend when police used force to break up the crowd.
On Thursday, there was more violence as pro-military groups, armed with knives and catapults, confronted anti-coup protesters in Yangon, while the authorities used tear gas to break up a crowd of people who were protesting against the military’s replacement of a local official.
In Yangon’s Tamwe district, riot police fired shots into the air and set off stun grenades during the night to disperse a crowd protesting against a military-appointed official, according to witnesses and state-run media.
“We were really scared,” one resident, who declined to be identified, said of the police action that continued into the early hours of the morning. Residents found stun grenade casings and flip-flops abandoned by fleeing protesters strewn in the streets.
State media said legal action would be taken against 23 people, 10 of them women, in connection with the protest.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which is tracking detentions, said that as of Thursday night 748 people had been arrested since the coup began. Police were also seen picking up protesters on Friday.
Protesters are calling for the government of Aung San Suu Kyi that won a landslide victory in November’s election to be returned to power, and for more action against the generals from the international community.
A military supporter confronts pro-democracy protesters during a rally backing the coup leaders in Yangon on Thursday
On Thursday, the UK announced new measures are aimed at military chief Min Aung Hlaing, as well as five other members of the State Administration Council, which was set up by the military to run the country following the coup. Every member of the council is now subject to UK sanctions.
In addition, the British government said it would suspend all promotion of trade with Myanmar to carry out a review of its approach to trade with the Southeast Asian nation.
“Today’s package of measures sends a clear message to the military regime in Myanmar that those responsible for human rights violations will be held to account, and the authorities must hand back control to a government elected by the people of Myanmar,” UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.
The UK sanctions, which take immediate effect, will prevent the designated individuals from travelling to Britain and mean businesses and institutions cannot deal with their funds or economic resources in the UK. The United States has already announced similar sanctions, while the European Union said this week it was “ready to adopt restrictive measures targeting those directly responsible for the military coup and their economic interests”.
As part of the trade review, the Department for International Trade will work on measures to “ensure that UK companies in Myanmar are not trading with military-owned businesses,” the government said, stressing that trade also had an important role to play in reducing poverty.
Campaigners are calling on the international community to impose selected sanctions on the sprawling commercial empire of the military, known as the Tatmadaw in Myanmar, including the giant conglomerates Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).
The UK announced more sanctions on military chief Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday, but campaigners say the international community must also target the military’s sprawling business empire
The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission, set up in the wake of the 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya, detailed the extent of the armed forces’ involvement in the economy – exposing 106 MEHL and MEC-owned businesses as well as 27 close affiliates to the military – and the armed forces’ domination of Myanmar’s natural resources, including jade mining.
The Tatmadaw’s web of commercial interests enabled it to “insulate itself from accountability and oversight,” the UN said. “Through controlling its own business empire, the Tatmadaw can evade the accountability and oversight that normally arise from civilian oversight of military budgets.”