YANGON: Myanmar's junta freed hundreds of demonstrators arrested during its brutal crackdown on protests on Wednesday, while many businesses in Yangon remained shut and streets were deserted after anti-coup activists called for a silent strike.
Several buses full of prisoners drove out of Yangon's Insein jail in the morning, said witnesses, who included lawyers for some inmates.
There was no immediate word from authorities on how many prisoners were freed. A spokesman for the military did not answer calls.
"All the released are the ones arrested due to the protests, as well as night arrests or those who were out to buy something," said a member of a legal advisory group who said he saw around 15 buses leaving.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group says at least 2,000 people have been arrested in the military crackdown on the protests against the Feb. 1 coup.
Many businesses were closed in Yangon, and few vehicles were seen on the road in the country's biggest city, witnesses said, after a call by pro-democracy activists for a silent strike.
"No going out, no shops, no working. All shut down. Just for one day," Nobel Aung, an illustrator and activist, told Reuters.
"The usual meat and vegetables vendors on the street didn't show up," said a resident of the city's Mayangone district. "No car noises, only birds."
A teacher in the Kyauktada district said the roads were deserted. "There aren't many people in the streets, only water delivery men," the resident said.
The strike comes a day after staff at a funeral service in Mandalay told Reuters that a seven-year-old girl had died of bullet wounds in the city - the youngest of about 275 people killed in the bloody crackdown, according to the AAPP.
Soldiers shot at her father but hit the girl who was sitting on his lap inside their home, her sister told the Myanmar Now media outlet. Two men were also killed in the district, it said.
The military had no immediate comment on the incident.
The junta has faced international condemnation for staging the coup that halted Myanmar's slow transition to democracy and for its lethal suppression of the protests that followed.
It has tried to justify the takeover by saying a Nov. 8 election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was fraudulent - an accusation the electoral commission has rejected. Military leaders have promised a new election but have not set a date and have declared a state of emergency.
SUU KYI COURT HEARING
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said on Tuesday 164 protesters had been killed and expressed sadness at the deaths, a day after the European Union and the United States imposed more sanctions on groups or individuals linked to the coup.
He blamed the bloodshed on the protesters and said nine members of the security forces had been also killed.
He said strikes and hospitals not fully operating had caused deaths, including from COVID-19, calling them "undutiful and unethical".
Opponents of military rule have regularly called for strikes and also a civil disobedience campaign, including among civil servants, that has paralysed parts of the economy.
The junta spokesman also accused media of "fake news" and fanning unrest and said reporters could be prosecuted if they were in contact with the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), as the remnants of Suu Kyi's government is known. The military has declared the CRPH an illegal organisation and said membership is punishable by death.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her campaign to bring democratic civilian rule to Myanmar, has been in detention since the coup and faces charges that her lawyer says have been cooked up to discredit her.
The ousted leader is due to appear for another court hearing via video conferencing on Wednesday after a previous hearing had to be adjourned due to internet problems.
Reuters
Wed Mar 24 2021
Demonstrators are seen behind barricades during a protest against the military coup in Mandalay, Myanmar March 22, 2021. REUTERS pic
Insiden Balai Polis Ulu Tiram: Semangat juang Sarjan Hasif kekal tempur walau cedera
Semangat juang sebagai anggota Sang Saka Biru mendorong Sarjan Mohd Hasif cuba menghentikan insiden tembakan di Balai Polis Ulu Tiram, Johor meskipun beliau mengalami kecederaan.
Penyasaran subsidi diesel tidak seharusnya akibatkan kenaikan harga barang - Mydin
Penyasaran subsidi diesel tidak seharusnya mengakibatkan kenaikan harga barangan, kata Pengarah Urusan Mydin Mohamed Holdings Berhad, Ameer Ali Mydin.
Aidiladha: Penternak rumus makanan lembu sendiri, jaga kualiti daging, jimat kos
Seorang penternak di Sungai Merab menghasilkan rumusan makanan sendiri untuk lembu bagi ibadah korban.
Jualan Agro MADANI FAMA bantu rakyat jimat hingga 30 peratus
Ketua Pengarah FAMA harap rakyat Pahang mendapat manfaat daripada program yang diadakan selama tiga hari bermula 12 hingga 15 Jun itu.
Negeri digesa melabur dalam pembangunan bakat baharu renang, terjun
KBS gesa semua kerajaan negeri membuat pelaburan untuk pembangunan bakat baharu bagi melahirkan lebih ramai atlet dalam sukan renang dan terjun.
Kate Middleton sertai Trooping the Colour bersama ahli keluarga
Puteri Wales menyertai ahli keluarganya di acara perarakan tahunan tentera, Trooping the Colour pada Sabtu.
Euro 2024: Modric menyamai rekod Cristiano Ronaldo
Luka Modric menyamai rekod jumlah penyertaan pemain terbaik dunia, Cristiano Ronaldo, yang membuat penampilan dalam lima kejohanan Euro terakhir, awal pagi tadi.
Euro 2024: Sepanyol langkah kanan, Croatia berduka
Sepanyol hanya perlukan 45 minit pertama sahaja untuk memastikan kemenangan berpihak kepada mereka susulan tiada jaringan berlaku pada separuh masa kedua.
Terbuka Australia 2024: Lee Zii Jia mara ke final
Pemain nombor lapan dunia itu bangkit daripada kekalahan set pertama untuk menundukkan pemain meningkat naik dari Taiwan, Lee Chia Hao 10-21, 21-15, 21-10 pada aksi separuh akhir di Sydney Olympic Park.
Wakil rakyat kerajaan, pembangkang gesa insiden keganasan dihentikan
Insiden keganasan yang berlaku terhadap beberapa pemain bola sepak baru-baru ini merupakan titik hitam dalam dunia sukan negara khususnya industri bola sepak.
Anak lelaki risau tahap kesihatan Aung San Suu Kyi di penjara
Kim Aris dakwa, ibunya dinafikan akses kepada doktor luar selepas mengalami pening dan muntah.
Pengampunan separa Suu Kyi tidak bermakna - Anak
Pengampunan separa oleh tentera junta Myanmar terhadap bekas pemimpin yang dipenjarakan, Aung San Suu Kyi tidak mempunyai sebarang makna.
Thailand sambut baik pengampunan Suu Kyi
Thailand berharap pemberian pengampunan itu akan membantu mewujudkan suasana kondusif untuk dialog politik di Myanmar.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Junta Myanmar beri pengampunan negara kepada Suu Kyi
Bekas pemimpin parti Liga Demokrasi Kebangsaan (NLD) itu dipenjarakan sejak rampasan kuasa Februari 2021.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Suu Kyi sokong rundingan 'tanpa syarat' untuk hentikan krisis di Myanmar - Laporan
Pemimpin Myanmar yang dipenjarakan Aung San Suu Kyi akan menyokong rundingan "tanpa prasyarat" untuk menamatkan krisis yang berlaku di negara itu.
UK umum sekatan baharu terhadap Myanmar, sasar pembekal peralatan tentera
United Kingdom pada Isnin mengumumkan sekatan baharu terhadap Myanmar, termasuk menyasarkan pembekal peralatan ketenteraan kepada junta.
Kerajaan tentera Myanmar nafi lakukan pembunuhan beramai-ramai
Anggota kumpulan penentangan bersenjata mendakwa bahawa mayat mangsa ditemukan di pekarangan sebuah biara Buddha pada lewat Sabtu lalu.
Pilihan Raya Myanmar di tengah-tengah keganasan, Ketua PBB suarakan kebimbangan
Setiausaha Agung Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) Antonio Guterres pada Isnin menyuarakan kebimbangan mengenai hasrat junta Myanmar untuk mengadakan pilihan raya di tengah-tengah keganasan.