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Eight activists arrested in Myanmar, NLD says

Eight activists have been arrested this week in military-ruled Myanmar, the nation’s opposition party said yesterday, while a leading labor activist was charged over anti-government protests last year.

Eight members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, have been arrested since Sunday, spokesman Nyan Win said.

No reason was given for their detention, he said.

They were arrested after about 50 members of NLD’s youth wing staged a small protest last week against a constitution proposed by the military.

The draft constitution is scheduled to go before voters in a referendum next month.

Imprisoned labor activist Su Su Nway, meanwhile, has been charged for staging anti-government protests last year, he said.

“Su Su Nway made a second appearance before a secret court inside Insein prison on Wednesday,” Nyan Win said..

“She was charged with two criminal cases for participating in protests,” he said.

Kyi Win, the lawyer for Aung San Suu Kyi, will defend the labor activist at trial, the spokesman said.

Su Su Nway, 35, is an NLD member who was arrested last November as she protested near a hotel where UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro was staying.

Nyan Win said it was not clear if Su Su Nway, had been charged over that protest or over her involvement in mass marches led by Buddhist monks in September.

Those demonstrations were the biggest challenge to military rule seen in nearly two decades.

Security forces violently disrupted the protests by opening fire on crowds and beating people in the streets.

After Pinheiro’s visit, he issued a report estimating that at least 31 people died during last year’s crackdown.

More than 700 people remain in prison over those protests.

Human-rights groups have accused the ruling military junta of stepping up their arrests of activists this year.
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