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Myanmar teacher, nurses and civil servants join protests to ‘tear down the military dictatorship’

Protesters hit by water cannon as general strike is called

TEACHERS, nurses and civil servants joined protests to “tear down the military dictatorship” in Myanmar today as people took to the streets for a third consecutive day.

Demonstrations took place in the central city of Mandalay, the south-eastern coastal city of Dawei and the northern city of Myitkyina.

A call was made for a general strike and the police were urged to break ranks with the army and come over to the side of the people in Yangon.

Water cannon were used on peaceful protesters in the capital Naypyidaw to disperse the large crowds demanding the release of National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

She was deposed just over a week ago when the military seized power, citing unfounded allegations of electoral fraud in November’s national poll.

The coup has been widely condemned, with the US among those threatening measures against the military junta, which has imposed a one-year state of emergency.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed his support for the “people’s fundamental rights to expression, assembly and to peacefully protest against the military coup, free from reprisal or violence.

“The EU calls for all those detained in the coup to be released. Democracy must be restored.”

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