Thread: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi 'detained by military', NLD party says

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Translation: The chinkies want their corrupt little puppies in charge so they can steal what they fucking like.

mmm it I am not sure the end game for China here is theft of a few shekels

Originally Posted by TheRealKW

mmm it I am not sure the end game for China here is theft of a few shekels

Perhaps I was too simple for you.

With a pliant leadership, they can build what they like, appropriate villagers land and overproduce from it leaving poisoned soil in it's place, or build factories, and generally rape the country's resources at will.

Do you think they do this for fun or profit?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

With a pliant leadership, they can

. . . have naval, and therefore aerial, access to the Indian Ocean . . . trade routes all the way from the ME to their doorstep

Originally Posted by panama hat

. . . have naval, and therefore aerial, access to the Indian Ocean . . . trade routes all the way from the ME to their doorstep

And more bananas.

Myanmar junta blocks Facebook as opposition grows to coup


(Reuters) - Myanmar’s junta blocked Facebook in the name of ensuring stability on Thursday and activists said at least three people were arrested at a street protest against the coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi faces charges for illegally importing communications equipment after the army takeover on Monday that has drawn Western condemnation and calls on the junta to respect her party’s landslide victory in November elections.


Opposition to the junta has emerged very strongly on Facebook, which is the country’s main internet platform and underpins communications for business and government. Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging was also blocked.


Facebook was still available sporadically and demonstrators in the second city of Mandalay used it to livestream the first such street protest since the coup in a country with a bloody history of crackdowns on demonstrations.


“People’s protest against military coup,” read one of the banners.


The group of around 20 people chanted: “Our arrested leaders, release now, release now.”


Three people were arrested after the protest, three separate student groups said. Reuters was unable to contact police for comment.


The social network has also been used to share images of a campaign of disobedience by staff at government hospitals across the country, with doctors stopping work or wearing ribbons in the red colour of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.


Pictures shared on Wednesday showed workers at the agriculture ministry joining the campaign too.


“UNFAIR COUP”


Other signs of anger have emerged. For two nights, people in Yangon and other cities have banged on pots and pans and honked car horns, with images circulating widely on Facebook.

“Lights are shining in the dark,” said Min Ko Naing, a veteran of past campaigns against military rule, in a call to action. “We need to show how many people are against this unfair coup.”


The Ministry of Communications and Information said Facebook, used by half of Myanmar’s more than 53 million people, would be blocked until Feb. 7 because users were “spreading fake news and misinformation and causing misunderstanding”.


Suu Kyi has not been seen since her arrest along with other party leaders.


The NLD won about 80% of the vote in the Nov. 8 polls, according to the election commission, a result the military has refused to accept, citing unsubstantiated allegations of fraud.


The United Nations said it would ratchet up international pressure to ensure the will of the people is respected.


“We will do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during an interview broadcast by The Washington Post on Wednesday.


PRIORITY FOR WASHINGTON
Addressing the coup in Myanmar was a priority for the United States and Washington was reviewing possible sanctions in response, the White House said on Wednesday.


President Joe Biden discussed the situation in calls with the leaders of South Korea and Australia, the White House said.


The chair of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Parliamentarians for Human Rights, Charles Santiago, said the charges against Suu Kyi were ludicrous.


“This is an absurd move by the junta to try to legitimize their illegal power grab,” he said in a statement.


Police said six walkie-talkie radios had been found in a search of Suu Kyi’s home in Naypyidaw that were imported illegally and used without permission.


The NLD itself has yet to comment on the charges.


Suu Kyi spent about 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and 2010 as she led the country’s democracy movement, and she remains hugely popular at home despite damage to her international reputation over the plight of Muslim Rohingya refugees.


The military had ruled Myanmar from 1962 until Suu Kyi’s party came to power in 2015 under a constitution that guarantees the generals a major role in government.


The junta headed by Army chief General Min Aung Hlaing has declared a one-year state of emergency and has promised to hold fair elections, but has not said when.


Norway’s Telenor Asa, Myanmar’s leading mobile network operator, said it had no choice but to comply with the directive to block Facebook.


“Telenor does not believe that the request is based on necessity and proportionality, in accordance with international human rights law,” it said in a statement.


Facebook spokesman Andy Stone urged authorities to restore connectivity “so that people in Myanmar can communicate with their families and friends and access important information”.


Some people used VPNs to evade the blockage. Twitter, which was not blocked, saw an increase in new users. #CivilDisobedienceMovement was the top trending hashtag in the country, with #JusticeForMyanmar close behind.

Myanmar junta blocks Facebook as opposition grows to coup | Reuters

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

And more bananas.

. . . I rather thought that was a given

Suu Kyi Detained Because Private Security Staff Had Unlicensed Walkie-Talkies


A Myanmar court has granted a police request to detain ousted leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi until 15th February for illegally importing and using communications equipment, members of her National League for Democracy said Wednesday.


A leaked police document circulating among local journalists showed the police seeking remand for Suu Kyi to be detained at home until then, after private security staff at her Naypyitaw residence were found to be holding unlicensed walkie-talkies following Monday’s military coup.


The document shows police seeking charges for the offence under the export-import law that is punishable by up to three years in prison.


The court also granted permission for police to detain ousted President Win Myint for two weeks for having violated coronavirus restrictions last September when he observed an NLD election rally in front of his Naypyitaw home involving over 200 cars.


The Myanmar military has released about 400 people, including lawmakers of the formerly ruling party, and has ordered them to go home, lawmakers from the party said Wednesday.


When the military seized power, many NLD lawmakers were in the capital Naypyitaw ahead of a new session of the 664-seat bicameral parliament that was to convene later in the day. The NLD won 396 seats in a November general election.


The military said late Tuesday that it has established a “State Administration Council” headed by its commander in chief, which will serve as the nation’s highest decision-making body during a one-year state of emergency imposed after the coup.


With coup leader Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing serving as its chairman, the 11-member council is tasked with launching a new election commission and other undertakings. The move signalled military rule has begun in earnest.


The military, whose vast business interests in Myanmar were detailed in a recent report by Amnesty International, disputes the results of the November general election, which was won decisively by the NLD, and says a new “free and fair” election will be held, with power handed over to the winning party.


The newly created council includes three civilian members, who are all critical of Suu Kyi, who was Myanmar’s civilian leader since 2016.


Earlier on Tuesday, the military held its first government meeting in Naypyitaw since taking power. At the meeting, Min Aung Hlaing said he took over power because he “had no other choice”, according to an official statement from the military’s information service.


The statement quoted the general as saying that despite making repeated requests to avoid this situation, “the takeover was inevitable”, adding that “until a government is formed after the next election, the military needs to steer the country.”


Participants in the meeting included 11 newly appointed Cabinet ministers as well as acting President Myint Swe.


The Japanese government said Wednesday that it has determined that developments in Myanmar amounted to a military coup. But its top spokesman, Katsunobu Kato, did not address what would happen to Japanese aid to the Southeast Asian country.


Kato’s remarks came hours after the US government said it has determined the military takeover constitutes a coup, an assessment triggering certain restrictions on foreign assistance, as well as a “broader review” of aid programmes to the country.


Also Wednesday, foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialised countries issued a joint statement condemning the coup and calling for the release of all people “unjustly detained”.


“We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint,” the G-7 said in the statement.


Members of the UN Security Council, meanwhile, held a closed-door online meeting on Tuesday to discuss the Myanmar situation but failed to come up with a collective response after China and Russia requested more time to assess the matter, according to a diplomatic source.


Suu Kyi Detained Because Private Security Staff Had Unlicensed Walkie-Talkies | Chiang Mai One

This of course is in no way politically motivated as Hoohoo will be along soon to explain.

A large scale uprising resulting in a kick in the teeth for the military would be beneficial right now. Not sure the people have enough in their heart to fight for it though.

If they did, and it worked then neighbouring countries could see similar.

I remember this law about transceivers, in one SEA country ...I forget which one. It dated back to before the days of mobile phones.

She tickled the crocodiles belly and it bit her. You dont need to be an expert on SE Asian politics to know that trying to appease a murderous corrupt regime was always going to end in the ladys demise

After Facebook ban, thousands in Myanmar take to Twitter to plead #RespectOurVotes


SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Since Myanmar’s new military rulers imposed a temporary blockade on Facebook on Thursday, thousands in the Southeast Asian country have joined Twitter, according to app downloads and a Reuters estimate.

Many are using the platform and pro-democracy hashtags to criticize the army’s takeover and call for peaceful protests until the result of November’s election, which was won in a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, is respected.


The hashtags #RespectOurVotes, #HearTheVoiceofMyanmar, and #SaveMyanmar all had hundreds of thousands of interactions by Friday, according to hashtag tracker BrandMentions.


The junta seized power on Monday in a coup against the democratically elected government of Suu Kyi in response to what the army said was “election fraud.”

Military authorities banned Facebook Inc - which counts half of the population as users - until at least February 7th for the sake of “stability”, after the junta’s opponents began using the platform to organize.


But it took several hours for internet providers to enforce the ban, during which time activists began creating Twitter accounts and sharing them on their Facebook profiles, according to a review of social media messages.


Twitter was by Friday among the top five most downloaded apps on both the Google and Apple stores, according to data from research firm SensorTower.

Out of around 1,500 new Twitter accounts reviewed by Reuters and activated in the last two days using Myanmar related hashtags, most identified themselves as being opposed to the military government, while a handful of accounts were pro-military and posted links to the junta’s press releases.


Some pro-democracy activists used the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance, to appeal for support to cross-border youth movements pushing for democracy.


The hashtag, which started in Thailand in April, is used prominently by Hong Kong, Thai, and Taiwanese activists, with Twitter becoming a key soapbox for the region’s pro-democracy activists.


Twitter declined to comment on the surge of users in Myanmar.

After Facebook ban, thousands in Myanmar take to Twitter to plead #RespectOurVotes | Reuters

Myanmar police step up arrests as anti-coup protests grow


(Reuters) - Myanmar police arrested another key aide of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and media said at least 30 people had been detained over pot-banging protests against a military coup as shows of anger gathered pace on Friday.

International pressure on the junta was also growing with the U.N. Security Council calling for the release of Suu Kyi and other leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden considering sanctions on the ruling generals.


The latest high-profile detainee was 79-year-old Win Htein, a stalwart of Suu Kyi who was repeatedly imprisoned during their decades of struggling against previous juntas that led to the unsteady transition to democracy that began in 2011.


“We have been treated badly continuously for a long time,” he told Reuters by telephone as he was being taken away by police. “I have never been scared of them because I have done nothing wrong my entire life.”

Reuters was unable to reach police for comment on his arrest or what charges could be brought against him.

In Myanmar’s second city of Mandalay, 30 people were arrested over pot-banging protests which have taken place for the last three nights against Monday’s coup, media reported.

Eleven Media quoted Maung Maung Aye, deputy head of the regional police force as saying they were accused of breaking a law against “causing noise in public streets”. A teenager was among others arrested elsewhere over the noisy protests.

There has been no outpouring of people onto the streets in a country with a bloody history of crackdowns on protests, but there were signs of coup opponents growing bolder - with dozens of youths parading in the southeastern city of Dawei.


‘UPHOLD DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES’

A campaign of disobedience also gathered pace with some teachers joining work stoppages that began with doctors in government hospitals. Students at Yangon’s Dagon University held a protest march on campus.

“We don’t want this military coup which unlawfully seized power from our elected government,” said lecturer Nwe Thazin Hlaing at the Yangon University of Education. “We want the military coup to fail.”

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing took power citing alleged irregularities in a November election that Suu Kyi’s party won in a landslide. The electoral commission has said the vote was fair.

The 15-member U.N. Security Council released a statement on Thursday stressing the “need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.”

Language in the statement nonetheless made no mention of a coup - apparently to win support from China and Russia, which have traditionally sided with Myanmar. Both countries have ties to the military and China has large economic interests in its neighbour.

China’s U.N. mission said Beijing hoped the key messages in the statement “could be heeded by all sides and lead to a positive outcome”.


Reuters was not immediately able to reach the Myanmar government for comment.


Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen since her arrest in morning raids on Monday. Police have filed charges against her for illegally importing and using six walkie-talkie radios found at her home.

‘CREDIBLE ELECTION’


Biden said the United States was working with allies and partners to address the generals’ takeover.


“There can be no doubt in a democracy force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election,” he said.


The White House said national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with ambassadors from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), a 10-member bloc to which Myanmar - also known as Burma - belongs.

Sullivan earlier told a news briefing the Biden administration was looking at targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by the military.

The leaders of Malaysia and Indonesia said ASEAN foreign ministers would be asked to hold a special meeting to discuss the situation.

It is unclear how effective sanctions would be as Myanmar’s generals have few overseas interests that could be targeted.

The military does, however, have extensive interests in the domestic economy and could pay a price if foreign companies that have invested over the past decade decide to pull out.

Japanese drinks giant Kirin Holdings said on Friday it is terminating its alliance with a top Myanmar conglomerate whose owners, according to the United Nations, include members of the military. Kirin said the coup had “shaken the very foundation of the partnership”.

Suu Kyi spent about 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and 2010 as she fought for democracy in a country that has been under military rule for most of the past six decades.

She remains hugely popular at home despite damage to her international reputation over the plight of Muslim Rohingya refugees.


Myanmar police step up arrests as anti-coup protests grow | Reuters

Thousands protest Myanmar coup despite internet ban

Thousands of people took to the streets of Yangon on Saturday to denounce this week’s coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi despite a blockade on the internet by the junta.

In an upwelling of anger in the country’s largest city protesters chanted, “Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win” and held banners reading “Against military dictatorship”. Bystanders offered them food and water.


Many in the crowd wore red, the colour of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) which won Nov. 8 elections in a landslide, a result the generals have refused to recognise claiming fraud.


Yangon streets had a festival atmosphere late Saturday as a cacophony of car horns blared and thousands marched toward City Hall. Drivers leaned out of their cars and raised the three-finger salute. Bystanders returned the gesture. Some held up NLD flags or pictures of Suu Kyi. Many clapped and danced.


The protest built despite a blockade of the internet imposed after they first began to gather.

MORE Thousands protest Myanmar coup despite internet ban | Reuters

It's good to see the trad military take over again. Might save another country from modernity

Originally Posted by OhOh

Surely she will donate all her likes/todays income from her blog, to a suitable "charity". Asians eh, making money while the sun shines every day of the year.

I can't stop watching that clip.

There is something addictively hilarious about the way she gets into the funkiest part of the routine with the wiggle-wiggle side-slipping and the mock-boxing just when the coup convoy rumbles down the avenue.

I wish I could find more clips of her. They must exist if she does this stuff regularly but the only thing you find when you google her name 'Khing Hnin Wai' is the viral one.

Protests sweep Myanmar to oppose coup, support Suu Kyi


Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people rallied across Myanmar on Sunday to denounce last week’s coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the biggest protests since the 2007 Saffron Revolution that helped lead to democratic reforms.

In a second day of widespread protests, crowds in the biggest city, Yangon, sported red shirts, red flags and red balloons, the colour of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party (NLD).


“We don’t want military dictatorship! We want democracy!” they chanted.


On Sunday afternoon, the junta ended a day-long blockade of the internet that had further inflamed anger since the coup last Monday that has halted the Southeast Asian nation’s troubled transition to democracy and drawn international outrage.


Massive crowds from all corners of Yangon gathered in townships, filling streets as they headed towards the Sule Pagoda at the heart of the city, also a rallying point during the Buddhist monk-led 2007 protests and others in 1988.


A line of armed police with riot shields set up barricades, but did not try to stop the demonstration. Some marchers presented police with flowers as a sign of peace.


Protesters gestured with the three-finger salute that has become a symbol of protest against the coup. Drivers honked their horns and passengers held up photos of Suu Kyi.


“We don’t want a dictatorship for the next generation,” said 21-year-old Thaw Zin. “We will not finish this revolution until we make history. We will fight to the end.”


There was no comment from the junta in the capital Naypyitaw, more than 350 km (220 miles) north of Yangon and state-run television news carried no mention of the protests.

An internal note for U.N. staff estimated that 1,000 people joined a protest in Naypyidaw while there were 60,000 in Yangon alone. Protests were reported in the second city of Mandalay and many towns and even villages across the country of 53 million people that stretches from Indian Ocean islands to the fringes of the Himalayas.


The demonstrations have largely been peaceful, unlike the bloody crackdowns seen in 1998 and 2007.


But shots were heard in the southeastern town of Myawaddy as uniformed police with guns charged a group of a couple of hundred protesters, live video showed. Pictures of protesters afterwards showed what appeared to be rubber bullet injuries.


“ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE”


“Anti-coup protests show every sign of gaining steam. On the one hand, given history, we can well expect the reaction to come,” wrote author and historian Thant Myint-U on Twitter.


“On the other, Myanmar society today is entirely different from 1988 and even 2007. Anything’s possible.”


With no internet and official information scarce, rumours swirled about the fate of Suu Kyi and her cabinet. A story that she had been released drew crowds out to celebrate on Saturday, but it was quickly quashed by her lawyer.


Suu Kyi, 75, faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkies and is being held in police detention for investigation until Feb. 15. Her lawyer said he has not been allowed to see her.


She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for campaigning for democracy, and spent nearly 15 years under house arrest during decades of struggling to end almost half a century of army rule before the start of a troubled transition to democracy in 2011.


Army commander Min Aung Hlaing carried out the coup on the grounds of fraud in a Nov. 8 election in which Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide. The electoral commission dismissed the allegations of malpractice.


More than 160 people have been arrested since the military seized power, said Thomas Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on Myanmar.


“The generals are now attempting to paralyse the citizen movement of resistance - and keep the outside world in the dark - by cutting virtually all internet access,” Andrews said in a statement on Sunday.


“We must all stand with the people of Myanmar in their hour of danger and need. They deserve nothing less.”

Protests sweep Myanmar to oppose coup, support Suu Kyi | Reuters

Originally Posted by Joe 90

On Tuesday, New Zealand announced that it would be suspending all high-level contact with Myanmar and imposing a travel ban on its military leaders.

Another empty PR Schtick my Teflon Jacinda . . . excellent at meaningless crap. A travel ban . . . what a needy slimeball

Fair comment, virtue signalling, though I would guess NZ is still dealing/trading with China, the rest of Asia which is no stranger to human rights violation, Saudi and Gulf could do better, most of Africa and SAmerica are basket cases in that respect, and there are probably a few other countries that do not make the grade. Even Thailand is not above the occasional coup.

Originally Posted by jabir

Fair comment, virtue signalling, though I would guess NZ is still dealing/trading with China, the rest of Asia which is no stranger to human rights violation, Saudi and Gulf could do better, most of Africa and SAmerica are basket cases in that respect, and there are probably a few other countries that do not make the grade.

Of course, and they're happy to do so over the shredded remains of China's stance towards Australia . . . any chance for a quick buck. This comes hot off the heels that Air New Zealand is doing work for the Saudi ships blockading Yemen, including humanitarian aid. Her response: Why didn't the previous government do anything about that (the previous government was hers . . . the one before that was a National government, four years ago) . . . she is indeed vile

Originally Posted by jabir

human rights violation, Saudi and Gulf could do better, most of Africa and SAmerica are basket cases in that respect, and there are probably a few other countries that do not make the grade.

Including many of the so-called "civilised western democracies".

Keep up your anti-west tirades, Chinaman . . . your brethren in China will thank you

Reuters has also expresses their opinion:

"Biden on Monday pledged to “stand up for democracy” and threatened to re-impose sanctions gradually rolled back by former President Barack Obama after Myanmar’s generals initiated democratic reforms and released many political prisoners a decade ago."

As many realise ameristani standards of "democracy", usage of "sanctions" and definition of "humans rights" are somewhat ambiguously utilised.