Myanmar protesters march again after bloodiest day of coup unrest

Anti-coup protesters have taken to the streets across Myanmar following the deadliest day of a brutal military crackdown, which has drawn strong international condemnation.

Protesters marched on Monday in defiance of the crackdown by junta forces that killed at least 18 people a day earlier.

Security forces equipped with water cannon and military vehicles were mobilized at protest hotspots in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, where the military opened fire on protesters the day before.

Along one road in Yangon, demonstrators taped to the ground hundreds of pictures of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, bearing the words “shame on you, dictator, we will never forgive you.”

Demonstrators also marched in Kale, in northwest Myanmar, holding up pictures of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and demanding the restoration of the elected government. “Democracy, our cause, our cause,” they chanted.

In Lashio, Shan State, demonstrators were shown in a live video on Facebook chanting while police forces marched towards them.

UN rights office denounces military crackdown on peaceful protesters in Myanmar, says 18 killed

The UN rights office censures the police crackdown on peaceful protesters, saying at least 18 people have been killed.

The protesters, who have been on the streets for almost a month to oppose the military takeover, called for further international condemnation of the brutal crackdown.

“It has been one month since the coup. They cracked down on us with shootings yesterday. We will come out today again,” Ei Thinzar Maung, a prominent protest leader, said in a post on Facebook.

Defiance of the military coup has not only occurred on the streets, but also in the civil service, municipal administration, the judiciary, the education and health sectors and the media as well.

Following a call for help from Myanmar’s pro-democracy campaigners, activists across Asia held protests in support of people in Myanmar, with the rallying cry “Milk Tea Alliance.”

Around 200 people in Taipei and dozens in Bangkok, Melbourne and Hong Kong took to the streets waving #MilkTeaAlliance signs and flags.

Activists in Indonesia and Malaysia held online protests and thousands more from elsewhere in Southeast Asia took part in a social media campaign, posting messages and artwork.

The junta seized power from the elected government on February 1, claiming fraud in legislative elections in November. Suu Kyi and other officials were taken into custody.

Suu Kyi appears before court 

Suu Kyi took part in a court hearing via video conferencing in the capital, Naypyitaw, on Monday.

The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has not been seen in public since her government was ousted. She was initially charged with illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Later, a charge of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols was added.

On Monday, Suu Kyi was also charged under a section of the colonial-era penal code prohibiting the publication of information that may “cause fear or alarm” or disrupt “public tranquility,” her lawyer Min Min Soe said.

The next hearing will be on March 15.

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Myanmar’s ruling party of Aung San Suu Kyi says it has secured enough seats to form a new government.

The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said it was clear the junta's brutality would continue so the international community should prepare to confront it.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also condemned the “abhorrent violence” by security forces.

“(We) encourage all countries to speak with one voice in support of their will,” he said on Twitter.

Canada's foreign minister, Marc Garneau, denounced the military's use of deadly force against its own people, describing it as “appalling.”

Junta generals, however, shrugged off pressure by foreign countries, and said they would hold new and fair elections to resolve the dispute.

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