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Anti-coup leader stages flash mob protest in Mandalay; Kachin Independence Army frees journalists

Anti-coup leader stages flash mob protest in Mandalay

Pro-democracy activists, led by librarian-turned-protest leader Tayzar San, staged a flash mob demonstration in Mandalay on Saturday. Protesters called for a continued boycott of military-linked brands and businesses. They also called for more to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), which was launched by striking civil servants in response to the 2021 military coup. 

“We need to stand together in opposing the military dictators and to continue our revolutionary path by combining armed resistance with the people’s strike,” said Tayzar San. He also called for fundraising efforts to support the democracy movement in Burma, which has driven most activists and campaigners either underground, into resistance-controlled areas, or into exile. 

Several activists have been arrested for participating in flash mob protests since September, including Paing Phyo Min, the leader of an anti-coup youth group called the Anti-Junta Alliance of Yangon. Flash mob protests have become the only way for people in Burma to publicly vent their frustration and anger at the military regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power after the 2021 coup and suppressed peaceful anti-coup protests.

Kachin Independence Army frees journalists

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) released the Red News Agency reporter Ta Lin Maung and freelancer Naung Yoe, who had been held incommunicado since late September. The pair were arrested in Hpakant Township, the jade mining hub located in northwestern Kachin State 94 miles (151 km) west of the state capital Myitkyina. 

“Me and Ta Lin Maung were released safe and sound. Thank you to everyone who helped us,” Naung Yoe posted on Sunday to social media. Red News Agency, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and press freedom activists called on the KIA to immediately release the two reporters after news of their detention spread earlier this month.

Ta Lin Maung and Naung Yoe were reportedly arrested for critical coverage of fighting between the KIA and the military in Hpakant, which has escalated since September. The KIA spokesperson Naw Bu confirmed to BBC that there was an investigation into their detention, but he declined to give an official reason of why they were being held.

Isabel Todd, the coordinator at the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), spoke about the work done by its founders Yanghee Lee, Chris Sidoti and Marzuki Darusman. (Credit: DVB)

Special Advisory Council for Myanmar on international advocacy 

The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) Coordinator Isabel Todd joined DVB English News in the newsroom for a discussion about international advocacy on the crisis in Burma. The SAC-M is a group of independent experts formed in response to the 2021 coup.

“International actors need to really work together to find any means possible to cut the military’s access to weapons, cut its access to any sort of legitimacy that bolsters it strategically, financially, that prolongs its ongoing attacks,” said Todd. “This really needs to happen right away.”

A U.N. report in September stated that 2,414 civilians were killed in Burma from April 2023 to June 2024, with hundreds killed by airstrikes and artillery attacks. This amounts to an increase of 50 percent versus the previous reporting period, according to the U.N. 

To learn more, watch or listen to our Newsroom interview with Isabel Todd on Spotify or YouTube.

News by Region

MON—The home of Ko Ko Zaw, the editor-in-chief of local media outlet Than Lwin Times, was sealed off by regime authorities in the Mon state capital Mawlamyine on Oct. 25. He has been accused of having connections to “terrorist groups” but no further information was shared. 

“We are not impacted by this [action] as we have been an online media since 2018. But they tried to arrest me and harm my family,” Ko Ko Zaw told DVB. The military raided the Than Lwin Times office in Mawlamyine on June. 25, 2021. Staff had already fled to areas under the control of resistance groups. 

SHAN—One civilian was killed and five others were injured during airstrikes by the Burma Air Force on Hsenwi, Laukkai, Nawnghkio and Namhkam townships in northern Shan State, on Sunday. A Nawnghkio resident said that a woman was killed during the airstrikes. An unknown number of buildings were destroyed. 

“A fighter jet dropped bombs onto a church in Hsenwi and around the town on Sunday. Another airstrike occurred in Namhkam that [same] day,” a Hsenwi resident told DVB. All four towns are under the control of the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

The TNLA held a ceremony at a Buddhist monastery for resistance fighters killed fighting with the military since the launch of Operation 1027 on Oct. 27, 2023. The event was held at an undisclosed location under Brotherhood Alliance control on Sunday. The TNLA has taken control of 11 towns in northern Shan State, as well as Mogok Township in Mandalay Region, since October. It did not share details of how many TNLA fighters have been killed.

YANGON—A Mayangone Township resident told DVB that a local man went missing from his home after criticizing a Burmese movie on social media, accusing it of insulting Hindu culture and mocking Burma’s Indian community. He also made reference to the film’s use of a pejorative term, considered hateful towards South Asians and Muslims in Burma. 

“He is a good person without any hate,” said a friend of the missing man on the condition of anonymity. The film the man is accused of criticizing is titled Gyitcarsiphoothala (Have you ever Rode a Jeep?). It is scheduled to be released in theatres across Burma next month.

(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,700 kyat)

Human Rights Lens – Episode 9: Military defections & surrenders is on DVB English News YouTube. Find us on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads & TikTok. Listen on YouTube Music.

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