YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s ruling military junta detained 13 opposition party members who called for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she marked her 63rd birthday Thursday, witnesses said.
The 13 people were taken into a truck after dozens of Suu Kyi’s supporters gathered outside the National League for Democracy party headquarters in Yangon, witnesses said on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals. Some of those detained were punched and beaten before being taken away, they said.
The protesters shouted slogans calling for the government to immediately release Suu Kyi, who they said “has been unfairly detained.”
Suu Kyi has spent more than 12 of the past 18 years under detention. Her party swept national elections in 1990, but the ruling junta refused to honor the results.
