Pro-democracy students arrested in Myanmar

Group says 9 detained in protest against military regime over gas prices

BANGKOK, Thailand - Myanmar’s military regime has arrested at least nine leaders of a pro-democracy group which had staged a rare protest against massive fuel price hikes, an activist group said Wednesday.

The Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma said in a release that virtually the entire leadership of the 88 Generation Students was taken to a detention center in Yangon.

Five university students and three members of another activist group were also arrested in separate sweeps by the authorities, the release said.

Members of the 88 Generation Students were at the forefront of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and were given lengthy prison terms after the rebellion was brutally suppressed by the military.

The arrests at midnight Tuesday came two days after the group led more than 400 people in a protest march through Yangon against the doubling of fuel prices on Aug. 15.

Those reportedly arrested included Min Ko Naing, one of Myanmar’s most prominent activists, Mya Aye, Pyone Cho and Yin Htun.

Three members of the Myanmar Development Committee, which had called for a nationwide protest against the sudden hikes, were also arrested along with five university students who were putting up posters demanding the reduction of prices on fuel and basic commodities.