riot police have opened fire to disperse
protesters in myanmar's largest city
yangon
witnesses say they used guns and stun
grenades
now there were no immediate reports of
casualties protesters have been taking
to the streets since the elected
government was overthrown in a military
coup on february 1st
the military has now officially annulled
the results from last november's
election
earlier this month it replaced the
election commission which had ruled that
the party of aung san tsuchi won
in a landslide victory the protest march
was quickly gripped by panic
as shots rang out in yangon
witnesses say police fired rubber
bullets and stun grenades to disperse
the crowd
hundreds of people had turned out once
again blocking roads in myanmar's
commercial center
their defiance openly on display
but police soon moved in to clear them
banging a warning drum with their
truncheons against their shields
and there was an even more severe
crackdown in myanmar's second largest
city mandalay
with several people requiring medical
treatment for their injuries
there have been daily protests and
strikes throughout myanmar
since the military took power on
february 1st
despite the threat of a violent
crackdown constantly looming
our protests need to keep going but it's
been almost a month now so some of us
are feeling a bit disappointed and
depressed
we need to stay strong for the next
month or two because it could take some
time to remove this
junta
elected leader has not been seen in
public since the coup
and her lawyer says he's been allowed no
contact
i'm concerned the right to access
justice and legal counsel
are being violated
is due to appear in court on monday and
time is running out to prepare her
defense
her yangon mansion a group of supporters
gathered
to offer prayers for her release
let's get some perspective on the story
now we can speak to activists min
mem in yangon thank you for joining us
now you have been
out on the streets tell us what you have
experienced there
okay i have been protesting in yangon
since
the time until yesterday there was no
violent kisses in protest areas in
yangon
i miss the young girl has been a bit
quiet with
shooting cases only in protest areas
i mean except other townships
where police shoot the protest the
protesters
arrested the protest leaders and even
journalists
and even some time during protests
however yesterday there were violent
cases in yangon and
military supporters publicly used sharp
objects and attacked the protesters in
suli
sam almost died and even now today i
went
i want to really go and
around 10 a.m in the morning that
the police were marching to us and uh
hitting and shooting us and okay we we
have to run away from them
yeah it sounds like the situation is
escalating are you afraid that you're
going to see an even more extensive
crackdown by police if you continue to
go out into the streets
actually we are afraid however never
think that we will stop protesting
we people in myanmar always find out
always find a peaceful way to protest
and will continue
finding peoples and the military make
violences against their testimonies and
they become terrorists
now not myanmar police and military
anymore
believe me we myanma people will never
make any violent activities and protests
against police violences now the
military we mentioned has now officially
annulled those election results from
last november where aung san tsuchi and
her party
uh won by a landslide is she still a
unifying figure for you and for your
movement
uh well she still is
well uh the 2000 general
elections was held under the currently
legitimate 2008 constitution which
the military loves so much and clearly
that's why election results can't be
annulled by the military wars because
uh they are already legitimate even
electoral observing ngos approve
of the 2000 general election results
through their
observations and findings because of
that uh
i must say there will be no po no impact
on the protest movement actually we are
not fighting for
like election results we are fighting
for democracy we are fighting
to end military dictatorship we don't
want military detective
anymore and we don't want our country's
developments to be delayed
again like in the past okay we'll have
to leave it there activist nin mem
speaking to us from yangon
thank you so much
you're welcome
you