Burma releases eight ‘copper mine’ protesters

source DVB No

Moe Thay (L) and Aung Soe (C), leaders of demonstrators peacefully protesting against the Latpadaung Copper Mine, march near Shwedagon Pagoda before their arrest by police, in Rangoon on 2 December 2012. (Reuters)

Activists who were arrested after staging a rally calling for the suspension of the controversial Latpadaung copper mine were released today on bail.

The six activists were arrested on 26 November in Rangoon and charged with sedition.

Meanwhile, two other activists, Moe Thway of Generation Wave and Aung Soe of a Rangoon-based civil society group, were also released on bail.

The two activists were arrested at a demonstration in Rangoon on 2 December that condemned the violent police assault on protest camps near the Letpadaung copper mine on 29 November.

It followed news that government forces used incendiary devices and water cannons to disperse peaceful protestors near the controversial Chinese-backed copper mine in Monywa, resulting in severe injuries. Several monks were severely burned in the crackdown.