Myanmar's military junta arrested two more leaders of the 1988 student uprising today as Washington stepped up pressure on the regime to stop jailing its political opponents.
Police picked up Pyone Cho and Ko Min Zeya from their homes in Yangon, family members said, four days after fellow student leaders Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kway were detained without explanation.
"Things are going from bad to worse," said a colleague of Ko Min Zeya, who was freed in 1998 after nearly a decade in jail. Pyone Cho was released in 2003 after 14 years in prison.
"The police have stepped up surveillance on our movements and activities. Our houses are also under surveillance," said the colleague, who declined to be named. The five were key figures in the nationwide protests against military rule that resulted in the deaths of several thousand demonstrators after troops intervened.
Ko Min Zeya's arrest comes a day after he and other ex-1988 student leaders sent a letter to junta chief Senior General Than Shwe and Home Minister Maung Oo calling for the immediate release of the three men. The army has run the former Burma in one form or another since a 1962 coup.
The United States said yesterday it would seek a UN Security Council resolution to pressure Myanmar to stop jailing political opponents, persecuting minorities and flooding the region with refugees