Thirteen people, including one teenaged boy, were arrested in Dawei, Tanintharyi Region, on Tuesday as people gathered to protest on the 100th day since the military coup ousted the elected government in Myanmar.
At 8am, police and soldiers broke up a crowd preparing to march against the regime in Dawei’s Bonmaw ward, chasing protesters into houses where they attempted to evade arrest, according to a protest leader.
Five men, seven women and a 16-year-old boy were detained by the junta’s armed forces. Another woman was wounded by rubber bullets, the protest leader said.
“We were planning to begin the march at 8:30am. We were gathering and the troops arrived with vehicles and violently broke up the crowd. They opened fire with their guns and beat people,” he told Myanmar Now.
Around 30 soldiers and police, including three plainclothes officers, surrounded the crowd and blocked the protesters from two sides, he added.
“Two vehicles loaded with armed troops broke people up at the gathering place. After the people dispersed, the plainclothes officers followed them with a Honda Fit car to arrest them. Two or three people came out of the car and opened fire,” the protest leader explained.
Those arrested are believed to have been taken to the Tanintharyi Region police station near Dawei’s town hall.
The troops continued searching for protesters hiding in local homes.
They broke down doors before entering houses and shot at people inside as they arrested the fleeing protesters, according to an eyewitness.
“Four protesters came into my house. There were about 30 inside of my neighbour’s house. I think the troops heard their voices. They broke down the door and shot at us,” the man said.
The troops swore at the protesters when they arrested them, he added.
“I didn’t see clearly if the troops beat them but I heard them ask the protesters to put their hands on their heads, saying, ‘you are giving us trouble every morning,’” the eyewitness said.
Residents of Dawei have been staging daily anti-coup protests in defiance of the military’s bloody crackdowns on opposition.
