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.