The police tried to take some leaders and people tried to stop them," said one witness in Pyay. "The police beat the protesters with rubber and bamboo sticks to disperse them. They beat them on their heads, backs and legs."About 100 people marched and held a candlelight vigil Wednesday and Thursday nights in downtown Yangon, about double the number of the first day, Tuesday. The number of onlookers increased as well, as dozens of police stood watch.
He said the situation turned chaotic and police ended up arresting six people.However, the arrests angered the crowd, which gathered in front of Pyay Prison to demand the release of their comrades.
Several NLD members were also detained in the early hours in the city of Mandalay, where protests over electricity outages started on Sunday before spreading to several urban centres, including the commercial capital, Yangon.
"So far as I heard from our members in the region, there was a protest of about 400 people at least," NLD official Nyan Win said, referring to the area around Pyi.
Ba Shi, an NLD member in Pyi said five people were freed in the afternoon after brief detention at a prison, where a crowd had assembled to demand their release. Tint Swe, an NLD committee member in Mandalay, told Reuters that he and two other party members were picked up by police at around 5 a.m. (2230 GMT on Wednesday) and questioned about who was behind the protests. They were treated well and taken home about five hours later, he said.
The demonstrations are also taking place as employees of about 10 firms in industrial zones around Yangon have held strikes over pay and labour rights.
It was not clear if the protests over power cuts would fizzle or blow up into a broader show of dissatisfaction.
No comments:
Post a Comment