Myanmar: Internet Restored As Aung San Suu Kyi's Detention Extended

Internet services have been restored in Myanmar after an eight-hour blackout as it emerged that civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained in a coup two weeks ago, would be remanded for a further two days. Demonstrators again returned to the streets of major cities on Monday despite security forces deploying armoured vehicles. Extra troops were seen in key locations of Yangon, the nation’s commercial hub and biggest city, including armoured personnel carriers near the central bank.

But witnesses said hundreds of engineering and technology students protested in a northern district of the city. There was a fresh rally in the southern city of Dawei too, a verified live stream on Facebook showed, with hundreds of protesters accompanied by a marching band.

 “Patrolling with armoured vehicles means they are threatening people,” said 46-year-old Nyein Moe, among the more than one thousand gathered in front of the central bank in Yangon. “People are marching on the streets and they don’t care to be arrested or shot. We can’t stop now. The fear in our mind is going away.”

Aung San Suu Kyi ’s detention on charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios was due to expire on Monday but her lawyer said she would be remanded in detention until Wednesday for a court hearing. Aung San Suu Kyi had spoken to a judge via video conferencing, her legal team said, and she had asked if she could hire a lawyer.

Speaking in the capital Naypyitaw on Monday morning, Khin Maung Zaw said he was still trying to see his client in line with the law. When asked about the fairness of the proceedings, the lawyer said “Whether it is fair or not, you can decide yourself.”

Since the coup on 1 February, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to call for an end to Aung San Suu Kyi ’s detention in the nation’s biggest protests in more than a decade. The unrest has revived memories of bloody outbreaks of opposition to almost half a century of direct army rule, which ended when the military began a process of withdrawing from civilian politics in 2011.

On Sunday, police opened fire to disperse protesters at a power plant in northern Myanmar but violence in this month’s protests has been limited. As well as the demonstrations around the country, the military rulers are facing a strike by government workers, part of a civil disobedience movement that is crippling many of the functions of government.

Soldiers were deployed to power plants in the northern state of Kachin, leading to a confrontation with demonstrators, some of whom said they believed the army intended to cut off the electricity.

The security forces fired to disperse protesters outside one plant in the state capital, Myitkyina, footage broadcast live on Facebook showed, although it was not clear if they were using rubber bullets or live fire.

On Sunday evening, armoured vehicles appeared in the commercial capital of Yangon, Myitkyina and Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, the first large-scale rollout of such vehicles across the country since the coup. The government and army could not be reached for comment.

Shortly after midnight, residents reported an internet outage. All four telecommunications networks were inaccessible from about 1am until 9am on Monday, when connections were restored. Monitoring group NetBlocks reported that a “state-ordered information blackout” had taken Myanmar almost entirely offline, but services began resuming around the start of the working day.

“Network data show national connectivity rising to ordinary levels after information blackout,” NetBlocks reported, adding that the outage lasted around eight hours. In the early days after the coup, the internet was cut across the country. "The army has been carrying out nightly arrests and on Saturday gave itself sweeping powers to detain people and search private property. On Sunday, it published penal code amendments aimed at stifling dissent.

“It’s as if the generals have declared war on the people,” UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said on Twitter. “Late night raids; mounting arrests; more rights stripped away; another Internet shutdown; military convoys entering communities. These are signs of desperation. Attention generals: You WILL be held accountable.”

Western embassies - from the European Union, Britain, Canada and 11 other nations – issued a statement late on Sunday calling on security forces to “refrain from violence against demonstrators and civilians, who are protesting the overthrow of their legitimate government”. The amendments to the penal code set out a 20-year prison term for inciting hatred of the government or military or hindering the security forces engaged in preserving state stability.

Hindering the security forces carrying out their duties is punishable by seven years in prison while spreading fear, fake news or agitating against government employees gets three, according to the amendments posted on a military website.

In the latest sign of disruption by workers, the government’s civil aviation department said in a statement many staff had stopped coming to work since 8 February, causing delays to international flights. A pilot, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, said hundreds of staff from the department were striking. Some trains also stopped running after staff refused to go to work, domestic media reported. The junta has ordered civil servants to go back to work, threatening action.

At least 400 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said.




Source: The Guardian
Image Source: Getty Images