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BBC journalist freed in Myanmar as anti-coup protests roll on
YANGON, March 22, 2021 (AFP) – A BBC journalist held in Myanmar has been
freed, the broadcaster said on Monday, as demonstrators took to the streets
for fresh anti-coup protests against the military.
Myanmar’s junta has unleashed deadly violence on protesters who have risen
against the military’s ousting of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi last
month.
More than 2,600 people have been arrested and 250 killed, according to the
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring
group that has warned fatalities could be even higher.
Aung Thura, a journalist with the BBC’s Burmese service, was detained by
men in plain clothes while reporting outside a court in the capital Naypyidaw
on Friday.
The broadcaster confirmed on Monday in a news story on its website that he
had been freed but gave no further details.
Scores of people, including teachers, marched on Monday through the pre-
dawn streets of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, some carrying
placards calling for UN intervention in the crisis.
Mandalay has seen some of the worst violence of the crackdown and recorded
eight more deaths on Sunday, a medical source told AFP, adding that as many
as 50 people were injured.
Machine guns rang out late into the night across the city of 1.7 million.
“People were really scared and felt insecure the whole night,” a doctor
told AFP by phone.
To protest the brutality of the crackdown, a group of doctors in Mandalay
staged a “placard only” demonstration by lining up signs in the street, Voice
of Myanmar reported.
A group of monks staged a similar “monkless” protest.
There were also early morning protests in parts of Yangon, the commercial
capital and largest city, where drivers honked their horns in support of the
anti-coup movement.
Residents in Yangon’s Hlaing township released hundreds of red helium
balloons with posters calling for a UN intervention to stop atrocities,
according to local media.
One man was also killed during daytime clashes with security forces in the
central city of Monywa Sunday and hundreds turned out to protest a day later,
local media reported.
– EU sanctions –
International concern has been growing over the junta’s brutal approach as
the death toll climbs, with a senior UN expert warning the military is likely
committing “crimes against humanity”.
But so far the generals have shown little sign of heeding calls for
restraint as they struggle to quell the unrest.
In a fresh bid to step up pressure, the European Union is expected on
Monday to hit 11 junta cadres with sanctions — in the form of travel bans
and asset freezes.
The United States and Britain have already taken similar steps.
Myanmar’s regional neighbours have also weighed in, with Indonesia and
Malaysia calling for an emergency summit of the 10-country Association of
Southeast Asian Nations to discuss the crisis.
Following the call, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan
embarked on a whistle-stop diplomatic tour including meetings in Brunei,
Malaysia and Indonesia.
On the commercial front, French energy giant EDF announced that a $1.5-
billion hydropower dam project in Myanmar had been suspended in response to
the coup.
Australia and Canada have confirmed they are providing consular assistance
to two business consultants detained in Myanmar.
It is understood that Matthew O’Kane and Christa Avery, a dual Canadian-
Australian citizen, are under house arrest after trying to leave the country
on a relief flight Friday.
The couple run a consultancy business in Yangon.
The Canadian and Australian foreign ministries have refused to comment
further on the case.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1510HRS