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Myanmar confirms detention of 14 Suu Kyi supporters |
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Written by AFP
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Thursday, 26 June 2008 00:00 |
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 NAYPYIDAW (AFP) - - Myanmar's police chief Thursday confirmed that 14 supporters of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been detained for nearly one month after protesting against the extension of her house arrest.
Brigadier General Khin Yee, the police chief, also told AFP that six journalists had been deported for entering the country on tourist visas to report on deadly Cyclone Nargis. He did not identify the journalists.
The activists were detained on May 27 after leading a small protest against the military's decision to confine the Nobel Peace Prize winner for another year.
She has already spent more than 12 years inside her Yangon home, where she is kept in total isolation.
The group tried to march from the headquarters of her political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), but were stopped just minutes after beginning their protest.
"We told them they can hold a ceremony without harming the state's peace and tranquility," Khin Yee told AFP on the sidelines of a ceremony in the capital Naypyidaw, marking the UN's international day against drugs.
"But their act harmed the peace and tranquility, even though we prohibited it," he said. "That's why we are questioning them about why they did it. They were not arrested. They are just being questioned."
His remarks were the first official confirmation of the arrests.
Khin Yee also said the military regime had deported six journalists for entering the country on tourist visas to report on the cyclone that left more than 138,000 dead or missing when it struck southwestern Myanmar nearly eight weeks ago.
"Some people enter the country with tourist visas and don't act like tourists," the police chief said.
"Some people overstep the boundaries by working as journalists. Those who overstep the boundaries were deported. Actually, we should take legal action against them, but we didn't do anything to them," he said.
"About six people were deported because they overstepped the boundaries," he added.
Myanmar maintains tight control over all media in the country and has only granted journalist visas to a handful of reporters covering events attended by international officials, such as last month's trip by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
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