Myanmar releases protesters after brief detention

Myanmar releases protesters after brief detention

YANGON (Agencies): Myanmar's military government said it had briefly held hundreds of students yesterday after they staged night-long street protests in the capital Yangon, the biggest such demonstrations in several years.

Witnesses earlier said up to 300 students were taken away just before sunrise in police trucks when they refused to disperse after a march through central Yangon early yesterday.

They were released after their papers were checked, a spokesman for the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) said.

"They were not detained nor did they face any charges. They were simply held briefly to sort out whether they were real students or infiltrators," he said.

"After paper checks, they were sent back to their school and hostels because we want them to continue their peaceful studies," he told reporters after the monthly SLORC press briefing yesterday.

Up to 2,000 students took to the streets on Monday to protest against the police handling of a brawl between their colleagues and restaurant owners on Oct. 20.

The latest street protests, which began with a sit-in at the Yangon (Rangoon) Institute of Technology (YIT) on Monday, were some of the worst since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.

Thousands were killed or imprisoned when the SLORC crushed the 1988 movement.

There were no reports of violence in the latest protests.

Those held yesterday were part of a group of 400 who had gathered near the central Shwe Dagon pagoda around 6.00 a.m. local time (2230 GMT) after marching from the YIT.

By the early hours of yesterday the protest had moved to the heart of the capital. Witnesses said those detained had refused an order to disperse when cornered by police near the pagoda.

The SLORC spokesman said the genuine students had been joined by political agitators.

"As soon as they moved out of the campus to the streets, they were joined by political agitators," he said.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 20 associates were prevented from leaving her home by security forces yesterday.

Security forces put up checkpoints early yesterday barring access to the section of University Avenue where her compound is located and turned back reporters who tried to enter for a scheduled news conference.

Reached by telephone at Suu Kyi's home, sources said there were 25 people inside the compound and all were unable to leave.

Aung San Suu Kyi was the only senior member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) inside, the sources said.

The NLD won a 1990 election victory but has been barred from taking power by the SLORC.

The United States and other Western countries have accused the SLORC of widespread human rights abuses and criticized its crackdown on the pro-democracy movement led by Suu Kyi.

The sources said they could give no reason for the measures and those inside had received no indication of when they would be allowed to leave.

The checkpoints were put in place shortly after security forces rounded up some 300 students who had held an all-night demonstration.

Suu Kyi was due to hold a news conference yesterday but with the blockades up again, it appeared unlikely that foreign media could get to see her.