TOKYO, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- About 20 people protested Thursday against Myanmar's military rule in the streets of Yangon, according to Japanese media reports.
Financial daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported this was the first time in nine years that people have taken to the streets in protest against the authoritarian regime. The demonstrators were calling for freedom of speech and other civil rights.
The newspaper added that a number of journalists reporting on the protest were arrested by the Myanmaran authorities, including two Japanese journalists.
Meanwhile, Tokyo daily Asahi Shimbun said that a male reporter from the Kyodo News Service and a woman from Nippon TV were among those taken in. Government officials of Myanmar, formerly Burma, have not confirmed any arrests.
