Based on the Norwegian Burma Committee´s press release, this article has been translated and edited for publication here by HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz. Photo of Husøy: HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz.
-The Norwegian Burma Committee calls upon Norwegian authorities to condemn the arrests in Burma and demand that their Burmese counterparts recognises and respects the Burmese people´s right to express their opinions, continues Husøy, right.
-The people can´t take much more
Many among the arrested are leaders of the network of the so-called ´88 generation´ students. Their arrests followed their lead in an unusual demonstration on Sunday, joined by more than 400 people, to protest the junta´s doubling of the fuel prices Wednesday last week. The consequence of this decision is an immediate and radical increase in both transport and food costs, adversely affecting an already hard pressed population. Over the last year, there have been several protests against inflation and rising food prices. The junta´s sudden 100 % increase of fuel prices has now caused serious frustration.
-A strong sense of unrest
-This could be a critical moment, warns Husøy. -The frustration that has been growing among the Burmese is such that this latest increase of the fuel prices may well prove to be the straw that breaks the camel´s back. There is a sense of unrest among the people, and plans for more demonstrations were laid before the arrests were made. That was probably why the junta targeted the most central leaders and activists.
. Min Ko Naing, right, the most well-known democracy campaigner in Burma after Aung San Suu Kyi, was among the arrested. -We fear for the security of the arrested, and that many more will be taken by the police, says Inger Lise Husøy, the Director of the Norwegian Burma Committee. (22-AUG-07)
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