Ko Thein Naing, an official with the League for Democracy, told The Telegraph that most of those picked up were young men. They were walking in silence through Taunggok, a town in the northwest of the country formerly known as Burma, when they were stopped by police, Naing said.

The protesters wore black T-shirts with the date 8-8-88 -- when thousands of people took to the streets for demonstrations that lasted six weeks before being put down. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been under house arrest for years, emerged as a leader in 1988.

Most of the country has been quiet, the British newspaper reported, with heavy security around Buddhist monasteries that have been focal points for dissidents.