2023-05-03 06:28:02
BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s ruling military council said Wednesday it would release more than 2,100 political prisoners as a humanitarian gesture. Thousands of others remain in jail, mostly on charges associated with nonviolent protests or criticism of the military regime, which began when the army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military council, pardoned 2,153 prisoners on the most important day of the year for Buddhists, which commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha, state broadcaster MRTV reported.
The releases began on Wednesday, although some could take a few days to complete. The identities of the pardoned prisoners were not immediately available, but they would not include Suu Kyi, who is serving a 33-year sentence on more than a dozen charges that his supporters say were fabricated by the military.
According to an official announcement in state media, all of the prisoners pardoned on Wednesday had been sentenced under a part of Burma’s penal code that makes it illegal to spread comments that create unrest or fear in the public, as well as to spread false news, and carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.
The terms of the pardon warn that if those released break that law again, they will have to serve what was left of their original sentence in addition to the one they receive for their new crime.
Mass pardons are customary on designated holidays in Myanmar. The last release of this caliber occurred in July 2021, when 2,296 prisoners were able to leave prison.
In November of last year, several political prisoners were released, including an Australian academic, a Japanese filmmaker, a former British and an American diplomat, as part of an amnesty that also affected local citizens detained for protesting against the military coup.
The Association for Aid to Political Prisoners said on Tuesday that 17,897 people detained since the military coup are still incarcerated. The group keeps a detailed count of arrests and casualties associated with the repression of the military government.
The pardons appeared to be efforts by the strict military government to soften its image as a major human rights violator.
Former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last week urged the Burmese military to take the lead in seeking a way out of the country’s violent political crisis, which would include releasing political prisoners, following an unexpected meeting with Min Aunghlaing.
A statement after the meeting said Ban “endorsed the international community’s calls for the Myanmar military to immediately release all arbitrarily detained prisoners, constructive dialogue and maximum restraint on all sides.”
The amnesty also came the day after Min Aung Hlaing received a visit from the foreign minister of China, a country that has lent crucial support to the regime since it took power.
MRTV noted on Tuesday that the Qin Gang had met in the capital Naypyidaw with Min Aung Hlaing and other prominent members and discussed bilateral relations, the political situation in Myanmar and necessary conditions for its stability and development.
China has strategic economic and geopolitical interests in Myanmar, its southern neighbor, and is one of the few large countries that has maintained a good relationship with the military government, disowned by many Western countries for its coup and brutal crackdown on dissenting voices.
Myanmar has been in an unstable situation since the army took over. The coup sparked peaceful protests that were harshly suppressed by the security forces. Since then, the violence has escalated with the appearance of armed resistance in various parts of the country and military efforts to quell it.
By Tuesday, 3,452 civilians had been killed by security forces since the military coup, according to the Association for Aid to Political Prisoners.
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