Myanmar releases thousands of prisoners to mark Independence Day

Myanmar’s military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty marking the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain.

The freed inmates included just a small proportion of hundreds of political detainees locked up for opposing army rule since the military seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

That takeover was met with massive non-violent resistance, which has since become a widespread armed struggle.

State-run MRTV television reported that Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, granted amnesties covering 5,864 prisoners from Myanmar, as well as 180 foreigners who will be deported.

Mass prisoner releases are common on holidays and other significant occasions in Myanmar.

The terms of release 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 punishment.

A separate report said Gen Min Aung Hlaing had commuted the life sentences of 144 prisoners to 15 years’ imprisonment.

The report also said that all other prisoners will have their sentences reduced by a sixth, except those convicted under the Explosive Substances Act, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Arms Act and the Counter-terrorism Law – all laws which are often used against opponents of military rule.

Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for the military government, told journalists that those being released included about 600 prisoners who were prosecuted under Section 505(A) of Myanmar’s penal code, which makes it a crime to spread comments that create public unrest or fear or spread false news.

He said Khet Aung, a former chief minister of the southern Kachin state, was among those freed. Khet Aung was arrested soon after the army takeover and was sentenced in April 2022 to 12 years in prison on corruption charges.

The official also said most of the freed foreigners are Thais who were arrested for gambling in the border town of Tachileik in eastern Myanmar. He said Indonesians who were arrested for fishing in Myanmar’s territorial waters were also among those freed.

He did not mention whether four Thai fishermen, who were arrested by Myanmar’s navy in late November after patrol boats opened fire on Thai fishing vessels in waters close to their maritime border in the Andaman Sea, were among the released. Thailand’s Prime Minister had said she expects the four to be released on Independence Day.

Prisoner releases began on Saturday but can take a few days to be completed. In the country’s largest city, Yangon, buses took prisoners out of Insein Prison, where friends and families of detainees had waited since the morning for the announced releases.

There was no sign that the prisoner release would include Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held virtually incommunicado by the military since its seizer of power.

The 79-year-old is serving a 27-year sentence after being convicted of a series of politically tinged prosecutions brought by the military.

Her supporters and independent analysts say the cases against her are an attempt to discredit her and legitimise the military’s seizure of power while keeping her from taking part in the military’s promised election, for which no date has yet been set.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a rights monitoring organisation, 28,096 people have been arrested on political charges since the army takeover.

Of those arrested, 21,499 people were still in detention as of Friday, the AAPP reported. At least 6,106 civilians have been killed by security forces in the same period, the group says. Its tally does not include all casualties from combat.

Myanmar became a British colony in the late 19th century and regained its independence on January 4 1948.

In the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s military government celebrated the anniversary with a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall.