Yangon: Myanmar’s ruling junta has charged at least 19 medical doctors for participating in civil disobedience protests against the military’s Feb. 1 coup, a state-run newspaper reported Wednesday.
Doctors, nurses and medical students have marched and joined strikes to show their opposition to the military takeover that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government and put a halt to the progress Myanmar had made toward greater democratization after five decades of military rule.
The doctors charged are accused of supporting and participating in the civil disobedience movement “to deteriorate the state administrative machinery,” the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper wrote.
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The military government has already issued arrest warrants for 100 people active in the fields of literature, film, theatre arts, music and journalism on charges of spreading information that undermines the stability of the country and the rule of law.
This isn’t the first time doctors have been targeted. Earlier this month in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city, security forces used stun grenades and fired guns to break up a march by medical workers protesting the army’s takeover. The online news site The Irrawaddy reported that four doctors were arrested.
Protests continued Wednesday across Myanmar even as people boycotted the official celebration of Thingyan, the country’s traditional New Year, usually a time for family reunions and merry-making.