Doctors march in Myanmar to protest coup

BY JOHN BOWDEN - THE HILL 03/21/21 

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Doctors and other medical professionals took to the streets in Myanmar's second-largest city on Sunday to protest the military coup that ousted the country's civilian government last month.

Reuters reported that protests occurred in multiple towns across the country including Mandalay, where hundreds of demonstrators joined the doctor-led protest. Engineers in the city also held their own "no-human strike," and lined up signs in the street with anti-military messages, according to The Associated Press

At least one person was killed, according to multiple news sources, after being shot by a member of the military. Thousands of protesters have been arrested since the coup early last month, but figures on arrests Sunday were not immediately available.

Military officials have alleged that last year's election, which incumbent state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi's party won, was fraudulent. The country's electoral commission has rejected this finding, but military officials have nonetheless promised new elections while imprisoning top government officials and employing harsh tactics against demonstrators.

The State Department called on Myanmar's military to "restore the democratically elected government, release all those who have been unjustly detained, lift the restrictions on telecommunications, and refrain from violence" earlier this month.