About 50 pro-democracy activists were briefly arrested yesterday outside Yangon, as the Myanmar junta clamped down on dissent following a series of protests last week against a sharp hike in fuel prices.
The protest was the latest in a series of bold demonstrations against the military, which for 45 years has ruled this impoverished country with an iron fist and kept a tight lid on any dissent.
The activists marched in silence from a market in Bago, a town about 75km northeast of Yangon, witnesses said.
They did not chant slogans or wave banners, but people on the sidewalks clapped as they walked by. After about 30 minutes, the entire group was arrested and taken to local authorities for questioning, witnesses said.
The activists were all released after two hours, in part because a crowd of about 100 bystanders had followed them to make sure the authorities would not mistreat them, according to Kyaw Win, one of the protest leaders.
"People who had gathered to watch our protest followed us after we were arrested. The guarded us and waited outside the authorities' offices until we were released," Kyaw Win said by telephone.
Authorities made them promise not to stage any more rallies. Kyaw Win said they were not mistreated in custody.
He and other members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said they would continue to protest against the Aug. 15 fuel price hike, which doubled transport costs overnight.
"The NLD will stand in front of the people, because we NLD members want to solve their problems," he said.
The march in Bago came after four days of protests last week, mainly in Yangon, over the price increase.
Plainclothes security forces have been deployed across Yangon to try to quell the protests, leaving the nation's economic hub shrouded in fear.
State media said that 56 people had been arrested over last week's protests, but Thailand-based political dissidents yesterday said that number was at least 100.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPP) said that many of those arrested are believed to be held in the notorious Insein prison in northern Yangon, where international rights groups have alleged abuse and torture are rampant.
"I am sure those arrested are now being tortured by the junta," said Tate Naing, the secretary of AAPP and a former political prisoner.
"We know from firsthand experience that those arrested in Burma are always brutally tortured -- both physically and psychologically -- immediately upon arrest," he said.
Among those arrested last week was Min Ko Naing, who is considered the country's most prominent pro-democracy leader after detained opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS