MRTV state television announced the removal of Kyaw Moe Tun on Saturday night, local time, saying it had “abused the power and responsibilities of a permanent ambassador” and “betrayed the country.”
Speaking to Reuters following his dismissal, Kyaw Moe Tun said he “decided to fight as much as possible.” The announcement came as the military stepped up its crackdown on anti-coup protesters on Saturday.
Addressing the New York assembly on Friday, Kyaw Moe Tun defied the military leaders now in control of the country and called on the UN Security Council and the world to use “any means necessary” to save the people of Myanmar and shoot at military liability.
“We need the strongest possible action on the part of the international community to put an immediate end to the military coup, to stop the oppression of the innocent people, to restore the state power to the people and to restore democracy,” he said.
Kyaw Moe Tun said he was speaking on behalf of the Suu Kyi government, which won a landslide in the Nov. 8 election.
In a defiant demonstration, the ambassador also flashed the three-fingered “Hunger Games” greeting used by protesters on the streets of Myanmar and adopted from recent protests in neighboring Thailand.
The diplomat received a rare round of applause from his UN colleagues at the end of his speech. The new US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, praised the envoy’s “brave” remarks.
“The United States continues to strongly condemn the military coup in Myanmar,” she told the assembly on Friday. “And we condemn the brutal killing of unarmed security forces.”
Thomas-Greenfield added that the United States “will continue to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance, including the Rohingya and other vulnerable populations in the states of Chin, Kachin, Rakhine and Shan.”
“People should applaud the bravery of Representative Kyaw Moe Tun for making such a strong statement on behalf of the people of Myanmar, not the illegitimate military junta,” Akila Radhakrishnan, president of the Global Justice Center, said on Friday.
“The international community should support the will of the people of Myanmar by recognizing the CRPH and refusing to legitimize, normalize or cooperate with the military government.”
The activist group, the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP), said that in cities across the country, security forces fired tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and fired their weapons into the air to disperse protesters.
A woman was allegedly shot and injured in downtown Monywa, according to Reuters, citing local media and an emergency worker.
In the largest city, Yangon, police fired tear gas and bangs to disperse a group of protesters representing various ethnic groups in Myanmar. Protesters had chanted insults at police before the disturbance, a witness told CNN. When the group dispersed, police fled the neighborhood.
In a village on the outskirts of the capital Naypyidaw, riot police used tear gas grenades and fired rubber bullets into the air to disperse hundreds of protesters.
AAPP said that since Saturday, it has documented 854 people who have been arrested, charged or convicted since the February 1 coup. However, the group said “hundreds of people” were arrested in Yangon and elsewhere on Saturday.
Hamdi Alkhshali, Kristina Sgueglia and Zamira Rahim from CNN contributed.