Myanmar forces turned hostile towards protesters and fired live and rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons and slingshots and killed two people. Later, police arrested famous actor Lu Min.
Myanmar has been at a standstill as people have been protesting against February 1 military coup. Actor Lu Min had taken part in protests in Yangon and was one of six celebrities the army said were wanted under an anti-incitement law. The army accused him of encouraging civil servants to join in the protest. If convicted he faces a two-year prison sentence.
His wife said police had come to their home in Yangon and taken him away in a video posted on his Facebook page.
“They forced open the door and took him away and didn’t tell me where they were taking him. I couldn’t stop them. They didn’t tell me,” Khin Sabai Oo said.
Earlier on Saturday, about 500 police and soldiers gathered at a shipyard in Myanmar’s second-largest city of Mandalay to disperse workers and other demonstrators, sparking an hours long clashes.
They dispersed the protesters with gunfire leaving two dead and 20 others injured. Protesters fled as security forces chased after them, attacking one group of journalists with slingshots and tear gas.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an activist group, said 569 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced by the military.
