2024-01-04 08:52:15
Published4. January 2024, 09:52
Burma: The junta releases more than 9,000 prisoners
In order to “mark the 76th anniversary of independence and to respect peace in the hearts and minds of the people”, the Burmese junta said it had granted amnesty to 9,652 detainees.
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Relatives gather around a bus carrying prisoners released from Insein Prison, to mark Burma’s Independence Day, January 4, 2024.
AFP
The event comes as the army, which seized power in a coup in 2021, faces growing resistance from an alliance of ethnic minorities in the north of the country.
AFP
The families of detainees, just minutes from seeing their loved ones.
AFP
The Burmese junta announced on Thursday the amnesty of more than 9,000 prisoners, an annual measure on the occasion of the anniversary of the country’s independence. The event comes as the army, which seized power in a coup in 2021, faces growing resistance from an alliance of ethnic minorities in the north of the country.
This armed alliance of ethnic minority groups announced the capture of military positions and major roads vital for trade with China, representing a challenge for the junta, according to analysts.
The anniversary of Burma’s independence was previously the occasion of a military parade in the capital Naypyidaw, followed by a speech by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. While he was absent this year, a subordinate read a prepared statement in his place.
In a statement released Thursday, the State Administration Council, as the junta is officially called, said it had “granted amnesty to 9,652 inmates in prisons and detention centers to mark the 76th anniversary of the ‘independence and to respect peace in the hearts and minds of people’.
A hundred foreign prisoners
There was no immediate indication that political detainees might be among those released. In a separate statement, the junta said 114 foreign prisoners were among those amnestied and would be deported “for reasons of bilateral and humanitarian relations.” No further details were given. In Yangon, the commercial capital, relatives of prisoners gathered outside Insein Prison, where inmates were to be released.
Burma declared its independence from Great Britain on January 4, 1948, following a long fight led by General Aung San, father of the deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The independence anniversary is usually marked with street games, marches and rallies in parks and public spaces. This year, the festivities in Naypyidaw were more subdued, far from the parade of soldiers, missile launchers and armored vehicles that passed through the city last year.
(AFP)
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