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Military coup in Myanmar: Prime Minister Suu Kyi arrested - US President Biden threatens sanctions

2021-02-01T19:31:46.442Z


In Myanmar, the army took the lead after a military coup. After a year of emergency, they promise new elections.


In Myanmar, the army took the lead after a military coup.

After a year of emergency, they promise new elections.

Update from February 1, 8:15 p.m.: US President Joe Biden

has

threatened

the new rulers in

Myanmar

with

sanctions

after the military coup in the Southeast Asian country

.

Biden announced on Monday that the US had

lifted

its

punitive measures

against Myanmar

in recent years

due to the country's progress in democratization.

As soon as these are reversed, there will be an immediate review of the


US sanctions

laws

.

Then "appropriate measures" could follow.

In addition,

President Biden's

statement

said: "The United States will work for democracy wherever it is attacked." Biden urged the international community to urge the

military to give up

power

immediately

.

"We will work with our partners in the region and around the world to help restore democracy and the rule of law."

Biden also wants those responsible for the upheaval in Myanmar

to be held accountable

.

He condemned the military coup and the arrest of Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi as a "direct attack on the country's transition to democracy and the rule of law".

Military coup in Myanmar: population cut off from the outside world

Update from February 1, 5:15 p.m.:

As a result of the

military coup

in Myanmar, the population is in shock.

Telephone, radio and television

connections have been cut in the capital

Naypyidaw

and in the economic center of

Yangon

.

The internet connection also stayed out in parts.

All banks in Yangon were closed on Monday, a

Reuters

journalist reported on the spot.

The human rights organization

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners

(

AAPP

)

reported more than 42 arrested politicians and 16 activists who had been arrested in Yangon since the early hours of the morning.

The “

state of emergency

” that the military

announced

on Monday for

a year

under the pretext of

electoral fraud

reminds most Burmese of the country's

longstanding military dictatorship

.

“I condemn the coup and the ongoing armed retribution.

Our generation has suffered difficulties all our lives since the

1962

military

coup

.

It's disappointing to see

history

repeat

itself,

”writes Burmese TV journalist Thinzar Shunlei Yi.

Many people line-up ATM machines in Yangon, panic under army coup in Myanmar photo credit: Khit Thit Media #coupdetat #Myanmarcoup #Burma #SaveMyanmar #Tatmadaw #PanicBuy pic.twitter.com/hAhu24frXH

- Wa Lone (@ walone4) February 1, 2021

Military coup in Myanmar: international criticism - is time turning back?

Since

1962

the country had lived almost completely isolated under the leadership of the "

Tatmadaw

", the military in Myanmar.

The first free elections finally took place in 2015, and

Aung San Suu Kyi

became Federal Councilor.

The road to

democracy

seemed paved.

However, the

constitution

was still penned by the military, which is why its members were always

represented in parliament

with at least

25 percent

.

The question of how much power

Aung San Suu Kyi

and the opposition party

NLD

really had in their hands has long been raised internationally.

Many fears have now come true.

The country seems to be making a leap back in time.


The German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) also spoke up on Monday:

 “I strongly condemn the takeover and the accompanying arrests by the military in Myanmar.

The military actions put the progress made so far on the way to democratic change in Myanmar at risk. "

Heiko Maas (SPD)

He called on the military to

immediately release

the arrested members of government and parliament, including President

Win Myint

and State Councilor

Aung San Suu Kyi

, to lift the state of emergency and to allow the democratically legitimized, constitutional institutions to work again.

(vs)

Update from February 1, 11:04 a.m.:

Now the

EU is

also threatening

those responsible for the

military coup in Myanmar with

consequences.

"We are in contact with our international partners (...) in order to ensure a coordinated response," said EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell on Monday.

The European Union called for the immediate restoration of legitimate civil government and the speedy opening of Parliament.

EU entry bans

and asset

freezes

are already in place

for members of the armed forces who are held responsible for serious

human rights violations against the Rohingya population

.

In addition, the export to Myanmar of goods that can be used to suppress the opposition or to monitor communications is prohibited.

Military coup in Myanmar: Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Suu Kyi arrested

First report from February 1st:

Naypyidaw - After the

coup in Myanmar

, the

army

promised

new elections

after the one-year state of emergency.

The handover of power will take place after “free and fair general elections”, the

military

said

on Monday in the online network Facebook.

The military had previously arrested several top politicians in the country, including the

de facto Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi

, and declared a year-long state of emergency.

Military coup in Myanmar: Prime Minister calls for resistance

"We are going to build a real multi-party democracy," said the

military's

statement

.

Suu Kyi, in turn, addressed the population with a call for resistance.

She called on the population

"not to accept"

the

military coup

, according to a letter distributed by her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), on online networks on Monday.

In view of the impending military coup, Suu Kyi “left this message for the people”.

After a coup in 1962,

Myanmar

was under military rule for almost half a century.

Suu Kyi

campaigned for nonviolent democratization in the 1980s and was therefore placed under house arrest for 15 years.

In 1991 she received the

Nobel Peace Prize

for her work against oppression and social injustice

.

However, it has been criticized internationally because it now shows an authoritarian leadership style itself.

Suu Kyi has been criticized primarily because of the state discrimination against the Rohingya ethnic group.

More than a million Rohingya have

 fled

the military attacks in 

Bangladesh

.

In a genocide case in The Hague, Suu Kyi dismissed the allegations in 2019.

Military coup in Myanmar: Army speaks of election fraud

The

army

in

Myanmar

took Suu Kyi and head of state Win Myint into custody in the wake of a coup on Monday.

The armed forces said they had taken control of the country and declared a year-long emergency.

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing took over the management of the “legislature, government and judiciary”.

Tensions between the

army

and the

civilian government led

by

Suu Kyi had

risen sharply

since the

general election

.

The army leadership denounced alleged massive

election fraud

.

After the coup, she renewed her accusation that there had been “irregularities” in the election that the responsible electoral commission had not cleared up.

In Russia, too, it remains uneasy.

So there were protests against President Putin for the second weekend in a row - thousands of demonstrators were arrested.

(AFP)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-02-01

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