Myanmar Anti-Junta Protests Continue 3 Months Into Coup
Voice of America
Anti-junta demonstrators in Myanmar took to the streets again Saturday three months after a coup spelled the end of the country’s transition to democracy. Explosions were reported by local media throughout the country’s largest city of Yangon as protesters marched for democracy in defiance of the military government, which seized power on February 1. No casualties were reported nor were there any immediate claims of responsibility. Demonstrators also rallied in Myanmar’s second-largest city of Mandalay and the southern town of Dawei, according to local media reports. Protesters are demanding the return of the civilian government that led 10 years of democratic reforms under the watch of Aung San Suu Kyi. In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed at least 759 anti-coup demonstrators and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests. When the military removed Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy government, it detained her and President Win Myint and imposed martial law across Myanmar. Suu Kyi led Myanmar since its first open democratic election in 2015, but Myanmar's military contested last November's election results, claiming widespread electoral fraud, largely without evidence.
South African President and President of the African National Congress (ANC) Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his remarks in the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) National Results Center at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, on June 2, 2024. Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supporters stand outside the Alexandra Library polling station in Alexandra, near Johannesburg, on May 29, 2024. Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), South African main opposition party, John Steenhuisen, center, speaks with the media at the Independent Electoral Commission National Results Center in Midrand, May 31, 2024. uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party leader and South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma addresses his supporters outside the Johannesburg High Court in Johannesburg, June 3, 2024. Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, right, reacts as he arrives for a press conference at the Independent Electoral Commission National Results Center at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, South Africa, June 1, 2024.