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TOKYO - Hundreds of Myanmar nationals and their supporters marched through Tokyo on Friday, calling for democracy in the junta-ruled nation on the 20th anniversary of the 1988 uprising.
Activists called demonstrations in Tokyo and other major cities around the world to mark the 20th anniversary of the uprising, which the military crushed, killing more than 3,000 people.
In those two decades, "the military regime has occupied the country for the entire time," said Lin Aung, vice president of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Japan Branch. "We will fight until the junta steps down."
Some 800 demonstrators marched to the Myanmar embassy in downtown Tokyo under the scorching sun, calling for the release of political detainees including NLD leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The protesters raised pictures of Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.
In front of the embassy, they shouted calls for the release of prisoners and placed a wreath against the gate.
"We are also calling for Japan to put more pressure on the military regime to retrieve the people who have been detained," said one of the demonstrators,
Kyaw Hlaing Aye, who fled to Japan 11 years ago.
Myanmar nationals form Japan's largest refugee group.
Japan, in a rare break with Western nations, maintains friendly relations and provides aid to Myanmar.
In September, Myanmar's military government broke up major anti-government protests in which the United Nations estimates at least 31 people were killed including a Japanese journalist.
Myanmar went ahead with a constitutional referendum in May that was opposed by the opposition despite devastating Cyclone Nargis, which left 138,000 dead or missing.
They said the constitution would clear the way for democratic elections in two years, but critics believe it would only enshrine military rule.
- AFP/ir
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