Yangon: Eight activists have been arrested this week in military-ruled Myanmar, the nation's opposition party said today, while a leading labour 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, which will go before voters in a referendum next month.

Imprisoned labour 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 yesterday. She was charged with two criminal cases for participating in protests," Nyan Win told reporters.

Kyi Win, the lawyer for Aung San Suu Kyi, will defend the labour activist at trial, the spokesman said. Su Su Nway, 35, is an NLD member who was arrested in 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 she 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 the crackdown.
Source : PTI