Activists arrested before prayers for Suu Kyi release

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

YANGON, May 15 (Reuters) Police in army-ruled Myanmar arrested 39 activists today before they could reach Buddhist temples to pray for the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, friends and witnesses said.

The two groups of activists were picked up in the commercial capital Yangon two weeks before Suu Kyi's latest term of house is due to expire on May 27.

''Twenty eight activists led by Su Su Nway were arrested on their way to Kyauktawgyi Temple,'' one organiser said, referring to the labour activist who has emerged as a prominent leader of young human rights campaigners.

Su Su Nway was jailed for nine months after she helped to prosecute two officials from her village in 2005 for using forced labour, a practice that is officially outlawed but believed to still occur in the army-ruled former Burma.

Another 11 activists were arrested in Yangon as they prepared to march to the city's famed Shwedagon Temple early today, the activist said.

Su Su Nway and members of Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) have organised prayers for her release at Buddhist temples since the start of May.

The NLD sent a letter to regime leader Senior General Than Shwe on May 10 calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the Nobel Peace Laureate, who has spent more than 11 of the past 17 years under some form of detention.

The military, which has ruled Myanmar in various guises since 1962, ignored international calls for her release on May 27 last year and extended her detention for another 12 months.

Yesterday, more than 50 former heads of state and government -- including former US presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Bill Clinton and former Polish and South Korean presidents Lech Walesa and Kim Dae-jung -- appealed for Suu Kyi's release.

REUTERS MP VV2348

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