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Regime issues arrest warrants for celebrities who urged people to join Civil Disobedience Movement 

After seeking to quell resistance to its February 1 coup with nighttime arrests of trade unionists, activists and striking government employees, the regime has now turned its sights on celebrities.

Police have issued arrest warrants against six well-known entertainers who supported calls for people to join the Civil Disobedience Movement, the military’s True New Information Team said in a statement on Wednesday. 

They are the directors Wayne, Lu Min, Ko Pauk, and Na Gyi, the actor Pyay Ti Oo, and the singer Anagga. All six are wanted under section 505a of the Penal Code for encouraging civil servants to join a growing general strike aimed at hobbling the dictatorship.

They were among a group of artists and entertainers who joined anti-coup protests in Yangon over the past week. Lu Min joined a protest on Tuesday in front of the Central Bank of Myanmar office in Yangon calling on staff there to join the strike.

The State Administration Council recently amended section 505a to punish acts that encourage “disobedience” among government employees with up to three years in prison. 

Mass protest continued unabated on Wednesday despite the military’s crackdown (Sai Zaw/Myanmar Now)

None of six have been arrested yet. In its statement the regime appealed to the public to report their whereabouts to the police and said anyone who sheltered them would also be punished. 

They are not the first people in the entertainment industry to be targeted since the military seized power. 

Movie director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, a well-known critic of the military even before the coup, was arrested in the early hours of February 1, at the same time as top government officials. 

He served a year in prison on a defamation charge after criticizing the military on Facebook in 2019. 

The regime has also filed a case against the singer Htwe Lin Ko, also known as Lin Lin, under section 505b of the penal code.

More than 400 people, including Aung San Suu Kyi and ousted president Win Myint, have been detained since the military took over. 

Despite the crackdown, nationwide protests against military rule continued unabated on Wednesday with massive protests in Yangon and around the country. Observers estimated that hundreds of thousands, or even millions, had taken to the streets.  

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