The Burmese army took back the reins of power in Burma on Monday, February 1, by arresting President Win Myint and the head of government Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner. This putsch comes a few months after the elections that had strengthened the majority of her party (The National League for Democracy) in parliament, with 80% of the votes.
Although recently criticized in her attitude towards the exactions of the Burmese army towards the Rohingyas, she remains adulated in her country and receives the support of the international community which strongly condemns this detention.
A week after the coup and despite the fear of reprisals, several peaceful demonstrations, gathering hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy Burmese, take place every day in the main cities of the country to denounce the military dictatorship and call for civil disobedience. The army, which has banned the rallies and declared a curfew, tries to contain these movements with violent repression and arrests. The UN condemns the disproportionate use of force, the United States has announced sanctions against the military junta and the European Union warns that it may do the same.
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