The military has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its February 2021 coup that ended Myanmar’s brief democratic experiment and plunged the nation into civil war.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has pardoned 6,134 imprisoned Myanmar nationals, the National Defence and Security Council said in a statement.
Fifty-two foreign prisoners were also to be released and deported, it said in a separate statement.
Other prisoners received reduced sentences, except for those convicted of serious charges such as murder and rape or those jailed on charges under various other security acts.
The release terms warn that if the freed detainees violate the law again, they will have to serve the remainder of their original sentences in addition to any new sentence.
The yearly prisoner amnesty “on humanitarian and compassionate grounds”, according to the national security council, comes as the country marks 78 years of independence from British colonial rule.
The prisoner releases, common on holidays and other significant occasions in Myanmar, began Sunday and are expected to take several days to complete.
Hundreds of people were waiting for the release of their family members outside Yangon’s Insein prison on Sunday, holding papers with names of prisoners on them, an AFP journalist said.
“I am waiting for my dad to be released. He was arrested and imprisoned for doing politics,” said one man outside the prison.
“His sentence is about to end. I hope he will be released as soon as possible,” said the man, who declined to be named due to security concerns.
However, there was no sign that the prisoner release would include former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in the military takeover in 2021 and has been held virtually incommunicado since then.
Source: CNA
