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Burma democrats urged to protest | Burma democrats urged to protest |
(10 minutes later) | |
A dissident student group in Burma is launching a campaign to demand the release of its leaders, who were recently detained by the ruling junta. | |
The 88 Generation Students has called the protest to mark the resumption of Burma's national convention on Tuesday. | The 88 Generation Students has called the protest to mark the resumption of Burma's national convention on Tuesday. |
The military government says the convention, boycotted by the main opposition party, will be the first step on a road-map towards democracy. | |
It says the arrested activists were plotting to destabilise the country. | It says the arrested activists were plotting to destabilise the country. |
The military junta has ruled the country since a coup in 1988. | The military junta has ruled the country since a coup in 1988. |
House arrest | House arrest |
The government is re-opening the convention on Tuesday, after an eight-month pause. | |
More than a thousand carefully-screened delegates are attending the gathering, which has been meeting intermittently for 13 years to draft the constitution. | |
The convention is being boycotted by Burma's main political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). | |
The convention was first established with the participation of the NLD, but the party walked out two years later claiming that the military was manipulating the process. | |
The Burmese government says it is on the path to democracy | The Burmese government says it is on the path to democracy |
The NLD's leader, Nobel peace prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under periodic house arrest since 1989. | |
She wants Burma's military government to recognise the results of the country's 1990 election, which the NLD won by a landslide. | She wants Burma's military government to recognise the results of the country's 1990 election, which the NLD won by a landslide. |
The Burmese government said it would crush any group that opposed the convention, but leaders of the 88 Generation Students said their demonstration would be peaceful. | The Burmese government said it would crush any group that opposed the convention, but leaders of the 88 Generation Students said their demonstration would be peaceful. |
Ko Jimmy, a member of the group who was imprisoned for 16 years following the 1988 coup, told Reuters that the organisation had gathered 120,000 names of supporters for a petition, and were encouraging people to wear their white shirts for a week. | |
"People are becoming more courageous," he said. "They know there is a political and economic crisis. It is the essence of democracy." | "People are becoming more courageous," he said. "They know there is a political and economic crisis. It is the essence of democracy." |
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