The Burmese military government stated its intention to crack down on these human rights activists, according to an April 23, 2007, report in the country's official press.
On Sunday, April 22, 2007, eight people were arrested by plainclothes police, members of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association, and the Pyithu Swan Arr Shin (a paramilitary group) while demonstrating peacefully in a Rangoon suburb.
Htin Kyaw, 44, one of the eight who also took part in an earlier demonstration in late February in downtown Rangoon, was beaten by a mob, according to sources at the scene of the protest.
"This proves that there is no rule of law [in Burma]," the 88 Generation Students group said in a statement issued on April 23, 2007.
"[1] Group co-founder Myint Aye, imprisoned on a life sentence in 2008, was selected by Amnesty International in 2012 as their case to promote at the annual Edinburgh Festival.