Bangkok: Opponents of military rule in Myanmar staged a joint protest on Wednesday calling on people to stay indoors to show they are boycotting elections scheduled for late this month.
They defied harsh legal penalties for attempting to disrupt the polls.
The military government has announced charges against 10 pro-democracy activists who staged a rare street protest last week in Mandalay, the country’s second biggest city.
Critics say the Dec 28 polls will be neither free nor fair and are an effort by the military to legitimise its rule after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
The General Strike Coordination Body, the leading non-violent organization opposing army rule, had urged people to join a “silent strike” on Wednesday. It called on the public to stay inside homes or workplaces from 10 am to 3 pm on International Human Rights Day. The tactic has been used on special occasions since the military takeover.
Images on social media showed uncrowded streets in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, and elsewhere.
Also on Wednesday, the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper reported that authorities were seeking the arrest of the 10 activists under a section of a new election law that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for disrupting the electoral process.
They are charged with allegedly misleading the public by distributing leaflets against the election around a crowded morning market in Mandalay on Dec 3.
The brief flash-mob protest in Mandalay, where heavy security and frequent crackdowns have made open dissent nearly impossible, drew
widespread attention.