LIVE Timeline: Myanmar's 2021 Democratic Uprising Against the Military Coup

 

February 12-The seventh day of nationwide protests against military rule are starting again all over Myanmar despite raids which had taken place throughout the country the night before which targeted protest organisers and election officials.

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Civil servants from the revenue department joined protests on Friday morning in Yangon. 

 

 

 

 

 

February 11-The fifth day of protests on Wednesday passed without any major incidents. The nationwide uprising against last week’s military takeover continued to gather steam, with more civil servants joining the civil disobedience movement and monks showing their support. The most notable development was the defection of a growing number of police, including 40 who joined protesters in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah state.

5:00 PM: More than 70 protesters who were arrested in Mandalay on Tuesday were released yesterday, the Patheingyi township court has told our reporter.  At least 200 of protesters, including a couple dozen people of Chinese heritage, are gathered in front of the Chinese consular office around Nguwah street on 73rd street in Mandalay. They demanding that China ends its support for the military regime. 
 

4:40 PM: Protest hotspots in Yangon such as Sule Pagoda, Myaynigone and Hledan are much less crowded than in previous days. These areas were busy in the morning but people dispersed more quickly than usual. There are still tens of thousands in the downtown area, our reporters estimate, but they are scattered around and walking in different directions. 

Myanmar people with Chinese heritage, medical students and others are protesting in front of the Chinese Embassy on Ahlone road for a second day. Many are convinced China is helping the regime in its efforts to impose strict controls on the internet after reports emerged of Chinese IT technicians arriving in Myanmar. About a dozen police officers are standing guard in front of the embassy, with protesters on the other side of the road.

1:20: The Mandalay Poets’ Union joined protests against the military dictatorship in Mandalay, marching in a column around the city this morning. 

1:38: Tens of thousands of government servants and other protesters are now gathering at Thabyay Gone roundabout in Naypyitaw, where a major police crackdown happened just a couple of days ago and a 20-year-old woman was shot in the head. She is now on life support. 

1:44: Many thousands of people have been gathering today in Pathein, the capital of Ayeyarwady region. The protest there is made up of health workers and staff from the electricity, forestry, and other departments, as well as monks. Marches started at 8am and others are taking place in other townships in Ayeyarwady region. 

2:38: Small groups of protesters are now gathering around the Manaw Yaman park in Mandalay. At the corner of 38th street and 78th street, police are blocking the way and standing by with a water cannon truck. Over a thousand people are protesting there by sitting on the road. Marches are moving here and there on 84th and 35th streets. In the streets around Mahar Myat Muni Buddhist Temple, police and some soldiers are holding guns and truncheons though there are no protesters around that area. Our reporter suggested that they are sending a signal for monks to avoid joining the protests, since there are some monasteries on those streets.

February 10

15:27-The area around Yangon’s City Hall and Sule Pagoda is less crowded than on previous days as columns of protesters go their separate ways around different areas of the city. However, our reporters estimate that there are still hundreds of thousands of protesters around the area. Just recently, a column of student unions from the Yangon University and Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University – along with other marchers – arrived in Sule after marching from Hledan. 

There are also young dancers now in Sule, who came along with the students’ column and are dancing to revolutionary songs made famous during previous protests against the dictatorship. The students and young dancers said they are revolting against the “junta of Min Aung Hlaing''.

At the Thaketa roundabout in Thaketa township, a group of people are holding a vigil for the young woman from Naypyitaw who was shot in the head with a live bullet by the police yesterday, and is now in an intensive care unit (ICU). A column of over 60 trishaws from Thaketa has just arrived at Sule, while a column of Covid-19 volunteers arrived there a couple of hours ago from Thingangyun, Thuwanna, and Thaketa townships. There are also a few singers and artists around the pagoda, including Lynn Lynn, who has volunteered as a security guard for Aung San Suu Kyi.

15:00--Hundreds of thousands of protesters have already converged in the downtown areas of Yangon. 


 

14::46: Police are blocking Mandalay’s 78th street, a main road, at the corner with 38th street, one of the main spots where protesters have been gathering in recent days. The junction is also where a major police crackdown happened yesterday. At the moment, there are about 3,000 demonstrators there sitting on the road, unable to continue marching. Hindu people are protesting on 35th street,  while city municipal employees, students, and members of the Mandalay Car Brokers’ Association are protesting on Manawhari road. According to our reporter, there has been no further police crackdown yet in Mandalay. Some sources have said 70 protesters who were arrested yesterday were released today, though police and the court have yet to confirm that.

11:30-Tens of thousands protersters from all over Yangon are streaming into the city's downtown areas. 

11:20 Dozens of police men and women joined the anti-coup protests in Kayah State, holding posters that read "We don't want the dictatorship" and "We stand with the people".

11:00 "We don't want the dictatorship," the police shouted, holding up three fingers as a sign of civil disobedience movement.

10:20 Buddhist monks are joining anti-coup protests in major cities of Mandalay and Yangon this morning on Wednesday

10:20 Buddhist monks from the famous Mahagandayone monastery in Mandalay are joining the protests against last week's military coup.

10:00- Protesters burn an effigy of coup leader Min Aung Hlaing at a protest site near Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon, as fury over last week's overthrow of Myanmar's newly elected government continues to grow.

9:40 A group of Burmese people of Chinese descent are protesting in front of the Chinese embassy in Yangon, calling on Beijing to respect the outcome of last year's elections, which Aung San Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide.

9:30- Soldiers have raided a clinic in the Thabyay Kone area of Naypyitaw, where a group of doctors have been organizing protests as part of the nationwide civil disobedience movement.

9:00 Despite the crackdowns yesterday, thousands of protesters converge again at Yangon's Hledan Junction.

8:00-Uniformed civil servants in Naypyidaw chant “Don’t go to the office! Let’s liberate ourselves!” as they join the nationwide civil disobedience movement.

 

Februray 9

18:00- The protesters in Naypyidaw and Mandalay have dispersed. They vow to show up again tomorrow to protest against the military coup. 

17:15-A motorcade carrying pro-army supporters passed by a crowd of anti-coup protesters chanting "Mother Suu".

16:45 -Hundreds of protesters chanting for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other detainees have assembled near the Thabyaykone roundabout in Naypyidaw.

16:30-Plain-clothes thugs are reportedly coming from North Okkalapa township to Hledan Junction where anti-coup protests continues.

16:00-Anti-military coup protests continue in Naypyidaw, Yangon and Mandalay. The first use of rubber bullets in Mandalay. Two protesters on motorbikes were shot by the police. One of the two protester shot in the neck.

14:00--Around 100 arrested in Mandalay where the police used tear gas and water cannons to crackdown on protesters. A similar crackdown has just started at the corner of 86 & 35 streets in Mandalay. 

13:00- Police fired around 50 rounds of rubber bullets and used water cannons to crackdown on protesters in Naypyidaw. At least five people sustained bullet wounds during the crackdown in Naypyidaw this afternoon. A 19-year old female medic sustained a critical head injury and a journalist reporting for local news outlet Mizzima was shot twice in back. 

 

12:30-Police officers join the nationwide uprising against the military coup

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Lt.Khun Aung Ko Ko who joined the protests in Naypyidaw looked at the riot police blocking a road. (Photo: Nyan Hlaing Lin/Myanmar Now) 

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Four policemen in the town of Magwe also joined the anti-coup protests on Tuesday. 

12:00-Protests against the coup have spread far and wide all over Myanmar. Thousands of people out on the streets in Myeik, in southern Myanmar's Tanintharyi Region.
 

11:45-Many more protesters are arriving at Thabyaykon roundabout which marks the center of administrative capital Naypyidaw. 

11:37-Police has blockaded a major road near the University of Yangon. In response, the young protesters are staging a sit-in. 

11:33-Protests against the military coup are taking place all over Myanmar. Here are the scenes in Myitkyina, the capital city of Kachin State in the north of the country.

11:00-Protesters collapsed on the road after police use water cannon on crowd demonstrating 

 

10:40- The protesters are arriving at the downtown areas of Yangon in the backdrop of historic Sule Pagoda. 

10:30- Protester injured after police use water cannon on crowd demonstrating in Naypyidaw. 

 

10:00-Protests are taking place in the second largest city of Mandalay. 

 

9:00- The police have blocked protesters marching near the headquarters of military-backed USDP in Naypyidaw.
 

8:00 am- Employees from the Railway Department in Insein Township have started taking to the streets.

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

The offensives come in the wake of deadly crackdowns against anti-coup protesters in Myitkyina 

Published on Mar 18, 2021
A KIA soldier watches from an outpost in Kachin state in this undated file photo (Kachinwave) 

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) launched attacks against police bases in the jade mining region of Hpakant on Thursday morning, a local resident told Myanmar Now. 

The attacks targeted police battalions where soldiers were stationed near Nam Maw village in the Seik Muu village tract.

“There are Myanmar police battalions around Nam Maw,” a resident said. At least three bases were attacked, he added. 

A 41-year-old civilian in Seik Muu village injured his left hand during the clash, the Kachin-based Myitkyina News Journal reported.

The KIA has launched several offensives against the coup regime’s forces recently. Fighting has also been reported in Mogaung and Injangyang this month. 

Some 200 people fled the Injangyang villages of Gway Htaung and Tan Baung Yan on Monday after the KIA launched an offensive against the military there. 

The offenses began in the wake of deadly crackdowns against anti-coup protesters in Myitkyina. The KIA has warned the junta not to harm anti-coup protesters. 

 

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

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The coup regime’s forces took the injured people away and locals do not know their whereabouts 

Published on Mar 18, 2021
Kalay residents move the body of a man who was shot dead on Wednesday (Supplied) 

Four young men were killed and five people were injured in the town of Kalay in Sagaing region on Wednesday as protesters continued their fight to topple the regime despite daily massacres across the country aimed at terrorizing them into submission. 

The Tahan Protest Group gathered in the town at around 10am and police and soldiers began shooting. One young man was shot dead on the spot as he tried to help people who were trapped amid gunfire, residents told Myanmar Now.   

The regime’s forces also shot at and chased fleeing protesters along roads and through narrow alleys, a resident said.

“The crowd of protesters dispersed but one person was shot dead while trying to rescue those trapped in the protest site,” the resident added. 

As the crowd dispersed, a man riding a motorcycle was shot outside a branch of KBZ Bank. “He also died,” the resident said. 

Despite the murders, protesters gathered again in the afternoon around 4pm. Police and soldiers started shooting again and killed two people. 

“They were shot dead while trying to set up barricades at the protest site. They were shot while trying to obstruct the army’s way as the army troops chased and shot the trapped protestors,” the resident said. 

The two who were killed in the morning were identified as Salai Kyong Lian Kye O, who was 25, and Kyin Khant Man, who was 27 and had three children. The identities of the other two have not yet been confirmed.

Five people were also injured and then taken away. Locals said they did not know where they had been taken.   

 

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

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An ex-convict businessman says that he gave the State Counsellor more than $550,000 in cash when ‘there was no one around.’ 

Published on Mar 18, 2021
Maung Weik (first from left) is pictured near State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi at the opening ceremony of a government housing built by his Say Paing Company. (Maung Weik/ Facebook)

The military council announced on March 17 that it would attempt to charge State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since Myanmar’s February 1 coup, with corruption.

The junta’s move is linked to new allegations against Aung San Suu Kyi by businessman Maung Weik. The owner of the Say Paing construction and development company, Maung Weik was formerly imprisoned on drug charges and is known to have close relationships with members of the military’s inner circle.  

Military-run media aired a recorded statement made by Maung Weik alleging that he had given Aung San Suu Kyi more than US$550,000 in cash-filled envelopes on the four occasions he met her between 2018 and 2020. 

“There was no one around when I gave her the money,” he said in the video statement. 

Under Myanmar’s earlier military regime, Maung Weik maintained ties to several generals, including former intelligence chief Khin Nyunt.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison on drug charges in 2008, but was released in 2014 while the country was led by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.  

Upon his release, Maung Weik founded Say Paing–a construction company–and ran various business ventures through his connections to military officials.  

Maung Weik’s wife is also the niece of military-appointed Vice President Myint Swe, who was also the former chief minister of Yangon under the former military administration. 

The coup council announced on March 11 that the now-ousted National League for Democracy’s (NLD) Yangon Region chief minister Phyo Min Thein had given Aung San Suu Kyi $600,000 and more than 11 kilograms of gold. The announcement provided no reason as to why the money and gold were allegedly given to the State Counsellor by the chief minister. 

A top NLD figure told Myanmar Now that the funds in question were donations to build a pagoda. 

“They’re trying to fabricate this and ruin [Aung San Suu Kyi’s] reputation, but the public already clearly knows it’s not true. There’s no need to say anything else,” the official said. 

The junta has also accused the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation and an affiliated project, the La Yaung Taw Academy, of losing public funds. The foundation was founded by Aung San Suu Kyi and named after her late mother. 

According to the military council, the land lease for the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation’s headquarters, located on Yangon’s University Avenue, is not commensurate with the market price for land in the area. It argues that the country had lost more than 1 billion kyat (more than $700,000) in public funds as a result.

The junta declared that from 2013 to 2021, more than $7.9 million in donations from foreign NGOs, INGOs, companies and individual international donors flowed into the foundation’s three foreign currency accounts.

Also under investigation by the junta is the La Yaung Taw Academy in Naypyitaw, which trains young people in environmental conservation and horticulture in association with the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation. The military said the rate at which the land for the project was purchased came at a discount of at least 18 billion kyat (more than $12.7 million), which was subsequently a loss to the state. 

It also reportedly included some plans—such as the construction of a museum—that used funds in a way that strayed from the project’s, and the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation’s, original aims.

“The construction of a building with finance from the foundation for the chair of the foundation has deviated from the foundation’s objective,” the March 17 announcement in the military-run newspaper said. 

Prior to the corruption allegations, the military council had hit Aung San Suu Kyi with four charges at the Zabuthiri Township court in Naypyitaw.

She has been accused of violating Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for incitement, which carries a sentence of two years in prison; Article 67 of the communications law for possession of unauthorized items; an import-export charge for owning walkie-talkie devices; and a charge under the Natural Disaster Management Law for not following Covid-19 measures during the 2020 election campaign period.

The military council has not allowed Aung San Suu Kyi to meet with her legal team. 

“I’ll most likely see her via video conferencing on March 24 for the next hearing,” lawyer Min Min Soe told Myanmar Now. 

The military council has only allowed lawyers Yu Ya Chit and Min Min Soe to take on Aung San Suu Kyi’s case, ignoring the requests of more established legal experts, including Khin Maung Zaw and Kyi Win, to be granted power of attorney.

 

 

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

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