Myanmar police to arrest anyone involved in ‘Flower Strike’ ahead of Aung San Suu Kyi’s 81st birthday

Police to arrest anyone involved in ‘Flower Strike’

Sources close to the police in Burma told DVB that the regime in Naypyidaw has ordered the arrest of anyone caught participating in a “Flower Strike” to mark the 81st birthday of jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on June 19. Over the last five years, netizens have shared photos with flowers on Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday to raise awareness of her detention since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.

A source in the regime’s Yangon Region Police told DVB on the condition of anonymity that plainclothes police officers will be deployed to pedestrian bridges, markets, pagodas, and shopping malls to monitor any activity suspected to be associated with the “Flower Strike” up to June 19. This involves “wearing or sharing flowers in public and posting photos of flowers on social media,” the source added.

Aung San Suu Kyi was reportedly moved from Naypyidaw Prison to house arrest at an undisclosed location in the capital on April 30 following a reduction to her sentence. Her son, Kim Aris, launched a global fitness and solidarity campaign called the “81 for 81” challenge June 1-19 as a part of the global “Proof of Life” campaign demanding Burma provide independent verification that Aung San Suu Kyi is still alive.

Read our latest DVB English News report: Min Aung Hlaing’s first visit to China since tightening grip on power in Myanmar

Last vestiges of NLD party headquarters in Yangon removed

Residents of Yangon’s Bahan Township told DVB that regime authorities removed the National League for Democracy (NLD) party signboard and flagpole at its headquarters, located at No. 97B West Shwegondaing Road, on Friday. The NLD was dissolved by the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) for “failing to re-register” in 2023 despite all party members being driven underground or into exile to avoid arrest.

A Bahan resident, who witnessed the incident, told DVB on the condition of anonymity that regime soldiers arrived late at night to take down the remaining vestiges of the NLD party from the building that housed its base of operations from its establishment in 1988 up to the 2021 coup. The NLD central committee did not respond to a DVB request for comment.

The NLD has documented that regime authorities have damaged or destroyed its party’s office buildings nationwide “167 times” since 2021. It added that homes belonging to 261 NLD members and 199 Members of Parliament (MPs), elected in 2020 but ousted during the coup, have been confiscated, while 118 NLD members and eight elected MPs have been killed by pro-regime forces.