myanmar's military junta has cut off
internet access across the country amid
growing protests against this week's
coup
crowds of people took to the streets of
the largest city yangon on saturday to
denounce the military takeover
riot police blocked the streets using
barricades and water cannon
many of the protesters wore red in
support of arrested leader aung
suchi
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[Applause]
resistance appears to be growing this
demonstration in yangon
is the first such mass public protest
since the military took over the country
on monday
among the chants military dictator fail
fail democracy win and demands for the
release of elected leader
aung san tsuchi authorities were not far
away
army chief min laing seized power on
monday
alleging fraud in a november eighth
election won by
aung san tsuji's nld party
the electoral commission dismissed the
army's accusations
now the country's internet access has
been severely reduced
independent monitor net blocks says
myanmar is in the midst of a second
nation-scale internet blackout
with connectivity at almost half of
ordinary levels
other reports say the military
government ordered the shutdown of
facebook and twitter
claiming the spread of fake news
protests against the military coup have
also spread to
other countries in melbourne australia
hundreds of demonstrators expressed
their concern
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we're showing our voices to let the
military knows that we're not going to
stand back
and let them do whatever they want here
and in taiwan hundreds of members of the
myanmar community there
also came out in force
we've had more than 30 years of
repression from the military government
we don't want to go back to that woman
so we hope our next generation can live
in a country like
taiwan where everyone enjoys civil
rights
that's why we're here today
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despite efforts to silence protesters in
myanmar
calls for an end to the coup are still
loud and clear in the country
dave bruno obama is a journalist who's
been covering myanmar for many years he
joins us now from kuala lumpur
dave widespread cuts to the internet
access some are calling it a nationwide
blackout
what's behind this crackdown
yeah well it makes it tougher for the
organizers of these demonstrations
to communicate with one another and
strategize with one another
it also makes it tougher for them to get
their messages and powerful visuals
out to the outside world for us to see
certainly the military would like to
clamp down on that
you know the military they've got a
playbook that they worked out before
they went forward with the coup on
monday
and what they're doing is seeing what
the public does they reach into the
playbook
grab the play they need at that
particular time or what they think they
need
now an australian advisor to elected
leader aung san tsuchi has been detained
as she has also been why are authorities
targeting her inner circle
so it's really not clear at this time
why they're detaining sean turnell that
australian economic advisor that you're
talking about particularly since he's
not really known by most of the people
in myanmar
but her other advisors many of whom are
well known the military does not want
anyone influential
out there encouraging the masses to
continue resisting
what kind of response can we expect from
the military leaders to these
public protests
well it really depends on how big these
protests get they're picking up steam do
they really become something
massive um and also these work stoppages
that are going on across the country
do those continue to grow um and if the
generals find that their this economy is
just
really sliding down and it's an economy
that's already been battered by covet 19
but if they
lose the ability to keep the economy
running at all well then they may find
themselves backed into a corner
senior general minnong long the
commander in chief he has put his chips
on this risky gamble for total power for
him there's no turning back
even if it means that he has to use
deadly force but keep this in mind this
is something we do not know
does he truly command the loyalty of all
the battalions and units across the army
does he really have the loyalty of
police officers across the country
we do not know there is a chance at some
point there could be some division in
the ranks
that's something we need to keep an eye
out for now what about
aung su chi who has been detained for
several days now any update on her
whereabouts
yeah her lawyer says that she is at her
home
uh in napydaw he's not been able to talk
to her but all we know is that she's
basically under
house arrest we have not heard from her
really since monday and what came out on
monday was a statement that had been
prepared
in advance of the coup as they were
anticipating that it might happen
all right journalist dave grunerbaum in
kuala lumpur thanks very much for the
update
sure thing