Armed police also took up positions across the country’s biggest city alongside truckloads of men from the army’s feared Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). Many were carrying brooms and shovels, pretending to be road sweepers.
Despite the clampdown and the overnight arrest of prominent activists, 100 people staged an hour-long march before being dispersed. Five women and a man were arrested, although there was no violence, witnesses said.
“Onlookers applauded but failed to join the march,” one said.
In a rare announcement in all state-run newspapers, the junta said the 13 had been arrested for “agitation to cause civil unrest” and “undermining peace and security of the state”, charges that could put them in jail for up to 20 years.
Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Min Zeya, Ko Jimmy, Ko Pyone Cho, Arnt Bwe Kyaw and Ko Mya Aye — all leaders of a 1988 student-led uprising crushed by the military — were among those named.
Min Ko Naing, Myanmar’s second-most prominent political figure after detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was released in November 2004 after 15 years in jail. He was re-arrested in September.
“Military intelligence seized their houses and searched their houses,” said another dissident, Htay Kywe.
Torture fears
The swoop came ahead of a protest on Wednesday against last week’s shock hikes in fuel prices, the latest in a rare series of demonstrations against deteriorating living conditions and galloping inflation in the former Burma.
The Washington-based US Campaign for Burma said it feared for the safety of the detainees, especially Min Ko Naing, winner of US, Canadian and European human rights awards.
“Min Ko Naing and the other leaders arrested have all been severely tortured during previous incarcerations and we are gravely concerned for their immediate well-being,” policy director Aung Din said.