Myanmar releases six more political dissidents News
Myanmar releases six more political dissidents

[JURIST] The military junta in Myanmar [JURIST news archive] has released six more dissidents held in the wake of a late summer crackdown against protesters and political opponents, the pro-democracy National League for Democracy (NLD) said Tuesday. Three members of the NLD, headed by the long-detained Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], were among those released. Five of the prisoners were detained in September 27 raids on two monasteries, days after government soldiers fired shots into nonviolent crowds [JURIST reports] of protesters, resulting in at least 10 deaths. Prominent politician Win Naing, detained since September 25, was also among those freed. Earlier this week, the military government released 87 detainees [JURIST report], including over 50 NLD members.

The releases follow reports [JURIST report] last week that UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of hhuman rights in Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro [official profile] has been given permission to visit the country in November to investigate alleged human rights abuses [press release]. In August and September the Myanmar government detained an estimated 3,000 protesters [JURIST report] involved in anti-government demonstrations; dissident groups say that 200 people have been killed since the crackdown began. Reuters has more.

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