Difference in protests in a Democracy and Dictatorship.

If the currant protest that is going on right now in Burma was going on in a democratic nation would the situation still be the same. Does the fact that the people ruling the nation are generals affect the way that the problem is being handeled? What are the differences of a protest and the way that they are handeled in a democracy and in a dictatorship. I have discussed this with my wife and I thought that I would like to see the way other people view this.