MYANMAR : Regime Releases 60 Democracy Activists

Myanmar’s military rulers freed dozens of anti-government activists detained in a crackdown last week, but authorities showed no letup in their propaganda drive against political opponents. “Altogether 60 of them have been released so far, and we think the rest are going to be released soon,” said Kyi Maung, deputy secretary-general of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, or NLD. Last week the military government detained more than 260 pro-democracy politicians ahead of a three-day congress of NLD members, which ended Tuesday. About 20 of the activists, looking relaxed and cheerful, gathered at Suu Kyi’s house in Yangon, the capital.