17th March, 2021 #day45

 

After a series of deadly crackdowns, the junta has prioritised blocking information and prosecuting detainees. According to a leaked letter of the military council tonight, the internet service providers have been instructed to stop providing internet services to the public. The letter, signed by Permanent Secretary of the Military Council Soe Thein, states an indefinite shutdown of Wi-Fi internet access from tomorrow under Section 77 of the Telecommunications Law until further notice. Mobile internet has been blocked by the military council since March 14, when many people were killed in Hlaing Tharyar Township. The junta once shut down the internet on February 1, the day of the coup and currently, there is a nationwide regular internet outage from 1:00 am to 6:00 am. Therefore, people fear that if the current Wifi is shut down, all the people will be in the dark again and there will be more targeted violence and bloodshed like in Hlaing Tharyar. In addition, the closure of the Internet will now pose a serious problem for media outlets which rely on the Internet to broadcast their news, as all private media outlets in the country have stopped publishing. In some parts of Yangon, soldiers threatened with loudspeakers that they would shoot everyone if residents did not remove the barricades built by protesters on the streets. In some places, detainees were treated like porters and forced to remove roadblocks.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged with four counts, and today the junta again accused her of corruption on state-run MRTV television. Maung Weik, a businessman who is reportedly close to the NLD, said on MRTV that he had given $ 500,000 to Aung San Suu Kyi personally over the past few years as donations for the Khin Kyi Foundation which was formed in the name of her mother. Earlier, the state-run television announced that she had received $ 600,000 and 11 kg of gold from Phyo Min Thein, the NLD appointed Chief Minister of Yangon Region. However, many have criticized the military for forcing those close to Suu Kyi among those arrested to testify against her for reinforcing their allegations that the NLD is corrupted and receiving illegal support.

The military said they will prosecute 322 university students who have been detained since March 3rd under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code for defamation of the State. According to Myanmar Now, 389 students have been arrested so far and 176 of them from Yangon University. They are being held in the notorious Insein Prison. Last week, the military only released about 50 students under the age of 18. The junta today released several Union election commission staff members. They have been detained for about two months without prosecution. The junta has also declared CRPH-appointed Acting Vice-President Mahn Win Khaing Than and special envoy Dr. Sasa as traitors and accused with high treason. The military council has previously accused Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, of treason.

Moreover, the military is trying to justify allegations of international interference in Myanmar's internal affairs. Recently, the junta has been targeting non-governmental organisations, and last week ordered private banks to report on the transfer of savings and remittances from organisations including Oxfam, Open Society Myanmar and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. The junta has arrested an employee of the billionaire George Soros's Open Society Foundation which has been funding scholarships, development projects, the DVB media, and issued arrest warrants for eleven others, according to Nikkei Asia. The OSM has been accused of financial misconduct.

The CRPH declares the elimination of all ethnic armed groups from unlawful and terrorist organisations. With the exception of the NCA signatories, other armed groups are considered as unlawful or terrorists or both by the government, and those associated with these groups are often prosecuted. Many hails this CRPH's move claiming as an important step to form a federal army to fight against the military. Last week, the junta disbanded the Arakan Army as a terrorist organisation but not as an unlawful one yet.