After the February 1 coup, more than 250 people, including doctors and nurses, decided to march day and night in white-clad Burma, a new challenge to the regime’s assassination. “Protect our leader” Aung San Suu Kyi kept the army secret for 49 days, “Can you protect our future” read in the banners of protesters before dawn on Sunday in Mandalay (center)

Other rallies were held at night in the far north and central part of the country to quell the bloody reaction of the security forces, with protesters lighting hundreds of candles and urging the UN to intervene.

Doctors, teachers, bank and railway workers have been on strike for six weeks to condemn the military rule. They are crippling entire sectors of the economy and are already weakening. On the streets, protesters have been declining recently, with many Burmese living in homes for fear of retaliation. The number of human beings is increasing. One person was killed and two others were injured when security forces opened fire on a small group set up near a barricade in Moniva (center) on Sunday morning. Police and soldiers “threw grenades and used tear gas, and then they started firing,” said one of them.

Repression continues in the judiciary as well. Diplomatic sources said Australian consultants, including Australian-Canadian, were placed under house arrest while trying to catch a flight to leave the country.