in myanmar the armed forces have seized
power
and detained the country's leader aung
sang-soo chi
and other democratically elected figures
troops are patrolling the streets and a
nighttime curfew is in force along with
a one-year state of emergency the u.s
president joe biden has raised the
possibility
of imposing new sanctions now the army
there alleges that the recent election
victory by mr
chee's party was undermined by fraud she
has urged her
supporters to protest against the
military coup
a myanmar formerly known as burma was
ruled by the military until 2011
after democratic reforms aung sangsuchi
was in partial control
with the military's agreement after
spending fifteen years
under house arrest aung sang sushi was
hailed around the world
as a symbol of democracy she was awarded
the nobel peace prize
now her leadership and reputation are
damaged after defending the army's
brutal treatment
of myanmar's minority community of
rohingya muslims
but she still enjoys great support among
many people
in myanmar the bbc's fergal keane has
the latest
an army reverting to autocratic type
swiftly and ruthlessly deposing a
democratically elected leader
somewhere behind the guns aung san
tsuchi
is once more a prisoner of the generals
and even if people never trusted the
military they're still
shocked at what's happened
the army assaulted people as it carried
out a coup on the civilian government
elected by our people our country is
just a bird learning to fly
now the army has broken our wings
i am surprised and shaken i fear that
prices will rise and people will revolt
i hope that aung san tsushi and her
colleagues will be freed sooner rather
than later
the crisis began when suchi's party won
a landslide victory in elections last
november
that win may have convinced the military
that their hold
on key security ministries the route of
real power here
was threatened
this was their response relayed to the
public on state television
allegations of election fraud from an
army notorious for its human rights
abuses
there'll be a state of emergency for a
year with limitless powers to detain
political enemies
this is the husband of one woman mp
asking the soldiers what they want
his wife is taken away in one of the
numerous dawn raids
expect them to escalate
the coup has an air of dark familiarity
for decades the military has tried to
maintain a monopoly of power
this was in 1995 when aung san tsuchi
was released after her first six years
of house arrest
the woman i met then was a global human
rights icon i think i became more
political i was when i after i was put
under house tourists than before
because once i was under house arrest i
became totally a political animal
because this was my whole existence
but human rights would eventually come
second to politics
three years ago by now sharing power
with the military aung san tsuchi
defended generals accused of genocide
against the rohingya muslims even
appearing for the defense
at a war crimes trial in the hague do
you ever worry
that you will be remembered as
the champion of human rights the nobel
laureate
who failed to stand up to ethnic
cleansing in her own country
no because i don't think there's ethnic
cleansing going on
for western powers the issue isn't about
a personality but the principle of
democracy in myanmar
and tonight president biden threatened
renewed sanctions on the military
but he needs chinese support and that's
far from assured
given the competition for regional
influence between beijing and washington
and china's long-standing support for
the generals
the army's supporters were on the
streets today
but the cheers won't echo for long ahead
lies deepening isolation
perilous uncertainty fergal keane bbc
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