Anti-coup protesters in Myanmar donned flowers in their hair Saturday to mark the birthday of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under confinement and is because of face court again next week.
Suu Kyi's elected government was overthrown during a February 1 coup that sparked mass protests and renewed clashes between the military and ethnic rebel armies in border regions.
Flowers tucked into a bun have long been a signature look of Suu Kyi, who turns 76 on Saturday.
Many replicated the floral hairstyle and uploaded pictures onto social media across Myanmar on Saturday.
Among them was Myanmar Miss Universe beauty queen Thuzar Wint Lwin, who wore red flowers in her hair and wrote: "May our leader be healthy."
In Yangon's north, protesters put up posters on power lines wishing Suu Kyi a cheerful birthday and expressing solidarity.
"Happy Birthday Mother Suu. We are right behind you," the signs read.
Some marched with black umbrellas and banners that read "freedom from fear" alongside pictures of Suu Kyi
In the border region of Karen state, some rebel soldiers were photographed holding their guns and yellow, white and purple posies and single flowers tucked behind their ears.
Demonstrators within the south-eastern city of Dawei made an enormous pink cake and brought it to their street protest.
The Noble Peace Prize Laureate's international reputation was damaged after she defended Myanmar's military over allegations of genocide against the ethnic group Rohingya population in troubled Rakhine state in 2017.
Not all Myanmar flower protest participants were filled with praise for Suu Kyi.
"I am involved during this campaign because now she is unfairly detained by the military and her civilian rights... and freedom is denied," a 35-year-old activist told AFP, adding it wasn't personal support.
"After she is free from her detention, she is going to need to take full responsibility over her silence concerning the suffering of Rohingya and other ethnic groups."
The civilian price since the coup is estimated to be a minimum of 870 people and shut to five ,000 protesters are in detention after being arrested, consistent with an area monitoring group.
The UN General Assembly on Friday took the rare step of calling on member states to "prevent the flow of arms" into Myanmar, a part of a non-binding resolution condemning the military coup within the violence-wracked country.
The resolution -- which didn't go thus far on involve a worldwide arms embargo -- also demands that the military "immediately stop all violence against peaceful demonstrators".
It was approved by 119 countries, with 36 abstaining including China, Myanmar's main ally. just one country, Belarus, voted against it.
Suu Kyi is due back in court next week and has been hit with an eclectic raft of criminal charges, including accepting illegal payments of gold and violating a colonial-era secrecy law.
She went unproved for sedition on Tuesday, but journalists were barred from observing proceedings
