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YANGON - Myanmar authorities arrested 10 supporters of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi here Wednesday, bringing to 40 the number rounded up in just two days, an activist said.
The apparent crackdown comes ahead of a May 27 review of her house arrest, which is expected to be extended further by the military-run state.
The activist, who did not want to be named, said the 10 people were heading to a pagoda in Yangon to pray for the 61-year-old democracy icon.
"Altogether 10 people were arrested this morning on their way to Kyaitkalot pagoda. They were arrested at about 8:40 this morning," the activist said.
On Tuesday, another 30 people were held at locations across Yangon as they too headed to temples to pray for Aung San Suu Kyi's release.
Most of the 40 in custody are believed to be members of the National League for Democracy, the party which she led to a landslide election victory in 1990 but was never allowed to take office.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 17 years under house arrest at her lakeside Yangon home, where she has little contact with the outside world apart from a live-in maid and visits by her doctor.
Calls for her release have been growing ahead of the review date, but there are few signs Myanmar's military leaders plan to free her. Diplomatic sources say pleas by leading world figures will have little impact.
Former US president Bill Clinton and 58 other former world leaders earlier this week appealed to the military regime to free Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights.
Her supporters began holding a weekly prayer vigil on May 1.
- AFP /ls
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