NEW YORK, 16 February, 2021 (TON): Myanmar’s army has been warned by the UN special envoy of severe consequences for any harsh response to the protestors protesting against the coup, a UN spokesman said.

Despite the deployment of armored vehicles and soldiers to some major cities at the weekend, protesters have kept up demonstrations to denounce the 1 February takeover and demand the release of detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others.

Protests on Monday were smaller than the hundreds of thousands who had joined earlier demonstrations, and small crowds gathered in two places in the main city of Yangon on Tuesday at a traditional protest site near the main university campus and at the central bank.

UN Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener spoke on Monday to the deputy head of the junta in what has become a rare channel of communication between Myanmar's army and the outside world.

UN spokesman said, "Ms. Schraner Burgener has reinforced that the right of peaceful assembly must fully be respected and that demonstrators are not subjected to reprisals."

"She has conveyed to the Myanmar military that the world is watching closely, and any form of heavy-handed response is likely to have severe consequences."

However, the ongoing unrest has revived memories of bloody outbreaks of opposition to almost half a century of direct army rule that ended in 2011 when the military began a process of withdrawing from civilian politics.