VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Messages painted on eggs by Myanmar coup opponents were posted on social media on Easter Sunday, Apr 4, 2021

Opponents of military rule in Myanmar inscribed messages of protest on Easter eggs on Sunday (Apr 4), while others were back on the streets, facing off with security forces after a night of candle-lit vigils for hundreds killed since a Feb 1 coup.

Hundreds of people protested in the country's second city of Mandalay, some on foot, others on motorbikes, according to images on social media, before police and soldiers moved in to disperse them.

Protesters also gathered in several other towns.

There were no immediate reports of violence.

Police and a spokesman for the junta did not answer telephone calls seeking comment. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said 2,658 people were in detention, including four women and a man who spoke to a visiting CNN news crew in interviews on the streets of the main city of Yangon last week.

Authorities have also issued arrest warrants for nearly 40 celebrities known for opposing military rule, including social media influencers, singers and models, under a law against inciting dissent in the armed forces.

The charge, announced on the main evening news bulletins broadcast by state media on Friday and Saturday, can carry a prison term of three years.The coup has also triggered clashes with autonomy-seeking ethnic minority forces that have announced support for the pro-democracy movement.Aung San Suu Kyi's party has vowed to set up a federal democracy, the main demand for the minority groups//CNA