Activists plan new protest rally in Myanmar

Defiant anti-government protesters in Myanmar plan to stage a 160 kilometer protest march Monday as the country’s military government wraps up its work on guidelines for a new constitution.

Pro-democracy activist Aung Moe Min told U.S.-supported Radio Free Asia the marathon procession would start in Laputta township and end in Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon. “I know that it will be a long and tedious walk and is bound to face crackdowns by the authorities,” said Aung Moe Min, calling on the public to overcome fear and take part in the march.

“The government that has declared to bring democracy to the country must support the peaceful acts of the people who are exercising their civil rights,” he said.

Myanmar’s junta has beaten and detained scores of activists and used gangs of hired thugs in Yangon to curtail unusually persistent protests that began August 19 over sharply higher fuel and consumer goods prices.