News in Brief
(Page 5 of 8)
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The protestors were wearing headbands carrying the "fighting peacock" and chanted, "Unity among students and the people," and, "Bring down the military dictatorship government."
Junta closes off most sacred shrine
SPDC blocked off the country’s most sacred Buddhist shrine, also the site of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s maiden speech for democracy, on the 10th anniversary of her address.
Security forces closed all entrances to the Shwedagon Pagoda, a 100-metre golden stupa in the center of Rangoon, and fenced off the surrounding area.
On August 26, 1988, some 700,000 people rallied at Shwedagon to hear a speech by Suu Kyi.
One day later, police moved out of Burma’s historic Shwedagon Pagoda, having finished what they described was a "clean-up" of the Buddhist landmark.
Truck-loads of riot police reinforcements were moved into strategic sites around the capital, including the University of Rangoon, Shwedagon Pagoda and the Rangoon Institute of Technology.
Embassy making a noise over protests
Burmese officials in Bangkok complained to the Thai Foreign Ministry over the demonstrations outside its embassy, saying that the protesters were preventing the embassy from functioning normally and that Thailand had violated the Vienna convention by not taking action.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kobsak Chutikul affirmed that the Thai government abides by the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, which requires host countries to protect foreign-representatives. But he maintained that the Thai government respected the rights to freedom of expression by Thai and foreign people — provided they comply with the law and do not violate the rights of other countries.
Universities Hold Exams
On August 18, Burma schools offered final examinations for the first time since their facilities were shut down in 1996. Over 96,000 university and college students participated in taking the tests.
Students attacked in Bangkok
A Burmese student suffered a broken nose and nine others sustained injuries, when unknown assailants hurled glass bottles at demonstrators in front of the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.
One activist required a number of stitches as a result of the late-night attack by four people on two motorbikes, who threw soda bottles at the demonstrators. Three Thai students, two females and one male, were also injured.
Thai police shift dissidents
Thai police said they had moved 14 Burmese dissidents from a protest site in front of the Burma embassy in Bangkok, but denied they had been arrested.
Police said the protesters were moved as they had been blocking the entrance to a diplomats’ compound and had been taken to a holding centre for Burmese refugees south of Bangkok.
UN’s Annan sends letter to Suu Kyi
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter to Aung San Suu Kyi and hopes to dispatch top envoy Alvaro de Soto to the military-run state, the UN representative in Rangoon said.
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