(Reuters) – Opponents of Myanmar’s military government chanted Easter eggs in protest on Sunday, while others were back on the streets, facing security forces after a night of candlelight vigil for hundreds of people killed in a February 1 coup.
In the most recent of a series of impromptu defiance shows, messages that include “We Must Win,” “The Spring Revolution,” and “Get Out of the MAH” were seen on eggs in social media photos, the latter making reference to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. Easter is not widely observed in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.
The Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP), an activist group monitoring victims and arrests since the army overthrew the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, said the death toll had risen to 557 since late Saturday.
“The people of Burma have continued to strike for the end of the dictatorship, for democracy and human rights,” the group said, using another name for the Southeast Asian country.
Despite the killings, protesters continue to run every day in large and small cities to reject the return of military rule after a decade of tentative steps toward democracy. Numerous candlelight vigils took place on Saturday night.
Early Sunday, hundreds of people protested in the country’s second city of Mandalay, some on foot, others on motorcycles, according to images on social media, before police and soldiers moved to disperse them.
Protesters gathered in several other cities.
There were no immediate reports of violence.
Police and a junta spokesman did not respond to phone calls for comment.
BROADBAND CUTTING
Opponents of the military government have also staged a civilian disobedience campaign and are often organizing creative defiance shows, which have spread to Easter Sunday.
AAPP said 2,658 people were in custody, including four women and a man who spoke last week with a visiting CNN news crew on the streets of Yangon’s main city.
A CNN spokesman said he was aware of reports of detentions following the team’s visit.
“We are pressing the authorities for information on this and for the safe release of any detainees,” the spokesman said.
The military is running its own intelligence control and suppression campaign.
It ordered Internet providers to cut off wireless broadband on Friday, depriving most customers of access, although some messages and images were still posted and shared.
Authorities have also issued arrest warrants for nearly 40 celebrities known to oppose military rule, including social media influencers, singers and models, under a law against inciting dissent in the armed forces.
The accusation, announced in the main news bulletins broadcast by the state media on Friday and Saturday, can be sentenced to three years in prison.
“CLEAR CONSCIOUSNESS”
One of the accused, blogger Thurein Hlaing Win, told Reuters that he was shocked when he was seen as a criminal on TV and hid.
“I did nothing wrong. I sided with the truth. I followed the path I believe in. Between good and evil, I chose the good “, he said by phone from an undisclosed location.
“If I am punished for this, my conscience is clear. My beliefs will not change. Everyone knows the truth. ”
The army led the former British colony with an iron fist after taking power in a coup in 1962 until it began withdrawing from civilian politics a decade ago, freeing Suu Kyi from years in prison. at home and allowing elections that her party beat in 2015.
She is said to have had to oust the Suu Kyi government because her November election, which was easily won by her party, was rigged. The Electoral Commission rejected the statement.
Many in Myanmar, especially younger people who have reached the age of the last decade of social and economic openness, cannot accept the return of government by generals.
Suu Kyi is in custody and faces charges that could lead to 14 years in prison. Her lawyer says the charges are out of date.
The coup also sparked clashes with ethnic minority forces seeking autonomy, announcing support for the pro-democracy movement.
The Karen National Union, which signed a ceasefire in 2012, has seen its first military airstrikes on its forces in more than 20 years and says it must fight to defend itself against a government offensive.
The group said more than 12,000 villagers had fled their homes due to airstrikes.
Fighting broke out in the north between the army and the ethnic Kachin insurgents. The turmoil sent several thousand refugees who fled to Thailand and India.
Suu Kyi’s party has vowed to establish a federal democracy, the main demand for minority groups.
Reporting by Reuters staff; Written by Robert Birsel; Edited by William Mallard and Kenneth Maxwell