Yangon (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The 62nd "Martyrs Day" commemorating the heroes of Burmese independence was celebrated by the military junta with the arrests of democracy 50 activists, reports the dissident website The Irrawaddy, citing anonymous local sources. The detentions were carried out yesterday in Yangon, during a march organized for the occasion.  

A source close to the opposition party National League for Democracy (NLD) reveals that among those arrested are “members of the NLD and other activists”, who were forcibly detained by police “at 11 Sunday morning”.  “A police block was set up on the road to the Martyrs’ Mausoleum – refers a local journalist -  Only holders of invitation and accredited journalists could pass the check point. Without permission, no one could enter the monument. "

In recent days, the Burmese authorities have reinforced security measures around the Martyrs’ Mausoleum and the Shwedagon Pagoda, two symbolic sites in the of the former capital of Myanmar. Police also questioned several people carrying cameras.  

To celebrate the festival, members of the NLD held a private ceremony under strict police control. About 1,000 soldiers, policemen anti-riot gear and plainclothes officers were stationed in the vicinity of the opposition offices, in Yangon.  

 “Martyrs Day“ commemorates the assassination of Aung San - the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize Winner in prison for over two months - and other leaders of the struggle for the independence of the country, which occurred on 19 July 1947 . Aung San is considered the Father of the Homeland and the man who led the country in the battle against English colonists first and then the Japanese invaders in the years of World War II.  

Since the ruling junta’s bloody repression - in 1988 -  of demonstrations for democracy and human rights in Myanmar, the  “Martyrs Day” has been transformed into a terrain for political confrontation between the army of General Than Shwe, democracy activists and members of the opposition.