Party official dies in police custody amid Myanmar protests
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This screengrab taken from a video on social media shows protesters making a shield formation in the town of Nyaung-U, Myanmar, yesterday. Protests were held in at least half a dozen cities yesterday, with at least 70 arrested in Mandalay after police fired stun grenades and tear gas to break up a sit-in protest by tens of thousands of people.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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YANGON • An official from the party of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi died overnight in police custody, associates said, while protests were held in at least half a dozen cities in some of the most widespread action against the Feb 1 coup.
The cause of Mr Khin Maung Latt's death was not known, but Reuters saw a photograph of his body with a bloodstained cloth around the head.
Mr Sithu Maung, a member of the dissolved Parliament, said in a Facebook post that Mr Khin Maung Latt was his campaign manager and was arrested last Saturday night in the Pabedan district of Yangon.
Police declined to comment.
Myanmar's major trade unions have called on members to shut down the economy from today to support the anti-coup campaign, turning up the pressure on the junta as security forces cracked down on demonstrators staging widespread protests.
"To continue economic and business activities as usual... will only benefit the military as they repress the energy of the Myanmar people," an alliance of nine unions said.
Police fired stun grenades and tear gas to break up a sit-in protest by tens of thousands of people in Mandalay, the second-largest city, said Myanmar Now media group.
At least 70 people were arrested.
Earlier, troops occupied a university in the city after firing rubber bullets at people there, it reported. Two people were injured.
Police also launched tear gas and stun grenades at protesters in Yangon - Myanmar's largest city - and in the town of Lashio in northern Shan region, videos posted on Facebook showed.
Videos posted by Myanmar Now showed soldiers beating up men in Yangon, where at least three protests were held despite overnight raids by security forces on campaign leaders and opposition activists.
Yangon residents said soldiers and police moved into several districts overnight, firing shots. They arrested at least three people in Kyauktada Township, residents there said. They did not know the reason for the arrests.
"They are asking to take out my father and brother. Is no one going to help us? Don't you even touch my father and brother. Take us too if you want to take them," one woman screamed as two of them, an actor and his son, were led away.
In the historic temple town of Bagan, a witness said police opened fire to break up a protest, and several residents said in social media posts that live bullets were used.
The United Nations says security forces have killed more than 50 people to stamp out daily demonstrations and strikes since the coup last month.
"They are killing people just like killing birds and chickens," one protest leader said to the crowd in Dawei, a town in Myanmar's south. "What will we do if we don't revolt against them? We must revolt."
More than 1,700 people had been detained under the military junta by Saturday, according to figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group.
"Detainees were punched and kicked with military boots, beaten with police batons and then dragged into police vehicles," AAPP said in a statement. "Security forces entered residential areas and tried to arrest more protesters, and shot at the homes, destroying many."
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said yesterday that China is prepared to engage with "all parties" to ease the crisis in Myanmar.
Israeli-Canadian lobbyist Ari Ben-Menashe, hired by Myanmar's junta, told Reuters the generals are keen to leave politics, and seek to improve relations with the US and distance themselves from China.
He said Ms Suu Kyi had grown too close to China for the generals' liking.
Mr Ben-Menashe said he had also been tasked with seeking Arab support for a plan to repatriate Muslim Rohingya refugees, hundreds of thousands of whom were driven from Myanmar in 2017 in an army crackdown after rebel attacks.
REUTERS
