Myanmar’s military rulers will release 5,864 prisoners, including 180 foreigners, under a general amnesty to mark 77 years of the country’s independence from British colonial rule, state media said.
The army said on Saturday it had ordered the release “on humanitarian and compassionate grounds” and that the life sentences of 144 people would be commuted to 15 years, according to state-run MRTV television. .
Details of the crimes the prisoners were convicted of were not provided and the nationalities of the foreign detainees, who were to be deported upon release, were not known.
The Associated Press news agency said the foreigners to be released may include four Thai fishermen who, in late November, Myanmar’s navy patrolled Thai fishing vessels in waters near its maritime border in the Andaman Sea. He was arrested after firing on the boats.
Thailand’s prime minister has said he expects the four to be released on Independence Day.
Myanmar regularly grants amnesties to thousands of people to commemorate holidays or Buddhist festivals. Last year, the military government announced the release of more than 9,000 prisoners on the occasion of independence. A similar release took place in October 2021.
Among those still imprisoned is the country’s former leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The 79-year-old woman is serving a 27-year sentence linked to 14 criminal charges brought against her by the military, ranging from sedition and electoral fraud to corruption. She denies all the allegations.
This year’s Independence Day celebrations were held in Myanmar’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and were attended by 500 government and military officials.
The speech by Myanmar’s military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing – who was not present at the event – was delivered by Deputy Prime Minister and Army General, Suu Win.
In the speech, he urged ethnic minority armed groups, which have been fighting military rule for the past four years, to lay down their arms and “solve the political issue through peaceful means”.
Myanmar has been in crisis since early 2021, when the military overthrew an elected civilian government and violently suppressed pro-democracy protests, leading to a nationwide armed uprising that pitted the army against the military on the battlefield. Achieved great success.
Two weeks ago, a rebel group known as the Arakan Army seized a large regional command in the west of the country, the second group to fall under the armed resistance movement in five months. The group also recently took control of a 271 km (168 mi) stretch of the border with Bangladesh when it captured the town of Maung Dao.