Burma release student activists arrested ahead of 50th anniversary of army's crackdown

Naypyidaw, July 8 (ANI): Burma authorities have released over 20 student leaders arrested ahead of the 50th anniversary of the suppression of a student movement.

"Police officials told us that they just wanted to question us in connection with our plans to commemorate the anniversary," the BBC quoted All Burma Students Union Phyo Phyo Aung, as saying.

Activists said the arrests were made in several different locations across the country, including five in Rangoon.

However, Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the National League for Democracy, said the students' detention is a reminder that continued reform in Burma should not be taken for granted.

About 300 people met in Rangoon to mark the event despite the detentions and the presence of plain-clothes police, the report said.

According to the report, 7 July is the 50th anniversary of the Burmese military's brutal suppression of student demonstrations, just four months after a coup by General Ne Win.

Dozens were killed, and the following day the student union building at Rangoon University was blasted. (ANI)