Authorities stamp out Myanmar protest attempt within minutes

YANGON, Myanmar: Defiant demonstrators tried to again to protest rising consumer prices Tuesday in Myanmar’s biggest city, but marched only 30 meters (yards) before being beaten and wrestled into waiting trucks like farm animals by pro-government civilian thugs, witnesses said.

The two dozen protesters shouted slogans against a massive fuel price hike and implored onlookers to join them, stressing they were marching peacefully for their rights, said witnesses who asked not to be named for fear of official reprisals.


Within just a few minutes, they were set upon by the pro-government toughs, who pummeled them with punches as they dragged them away. At least one was dragged by his feet, and witnesses said they were tossed into the trucks.

A prominent labor activist and former political prisoner, Su Su Nway, took part in the protest, but managed to escape arrest in a taxi with several colleagues.

“Peaceful protests are brutally cracked down upon and I want to tell the international community that there is no rule of law in Myanmar,” she told The Associated Press.

AP