Five detained after demanding Suu Kyi's release
Burmese authorities detained five opposition party members who called for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she marked her 63rd birthday under house arrest, witnesses said.
Five people were taken into an empty truck after dozens of Suu Kyi’s party members gathered outside the party headquarters in Rangoon, the country’s biggest city, witnesses said on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.
The protesters were shouting slogans calling for the government to immediately release Suu Kyi “who has been unfairly detained”.
The country’s ruling junta last month extended the house arrest of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate for the sixth straight year in face of international protest.
The crowd dispersed – some running back into Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party headquarters – after about six empty trucks approached.
Security was tight around both the headquarters and near her home, with extra barricades thrown up at both locations. The roads around the headquarters were later blocked off after the crowd dispersed.
Some 40 plainclothes security officials and other pro-junta men were stationed around the headquarters.
When a group of Buddhist nuns stood outside the headquarters compound to pray some of the security officials videotaped them.
Earlier in the day, the party celebrated her birthday by offering meals to Buddhist monks at its party headquarters several kilometres from her home.
Party member Myint Soe, who buys and daily brings food to Suu Kyi, offered 64 roses at the soaring Buddhist shrine, party sources said. The number signifies the beginning of Suu Kyi’s 64th year.
He also laid 64 yellow chrysanthemums at the tomb of Khin Kyi, Suu Kyi’s mother and wife of Burma’s independence hero General Aung San. The tomb of Suu Kyi’s mother is located at the foot of the Shwedagon pagoda.
A neighbour said Suu Kyi spent a quiet birthday inside her lakeside compound.
“There is no movement around the house. Only two policemen are guarding at the gate. Her compound is quiet. So far no visitors have come to bless her, no monks have come to accept alms,” said the neighbour, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 12 of the last 18 years in detention. Her party swept national elections in 1990 but the military rulers refused to honour the results and instead are pursuing a so-called “road map to democracy” with the junta in full control of the process.
