A spokesman for Myanmar’s military government says more than 23,000 prisoners will be amnestied in prisons across the country at the start of the (Burmese) New Year, and some of them may also be pro-democracy activists who were arrested after the Feb. 1 coup.
Saturday (April 17) is the first day of Myanmar’s traditional New Year and the last day of a five-day holiday. People made pilgrimages to temples, splashed water and partied in the streets during the holiday.
The amnesty was announced by Myanmar’s state television MRTV. The news said General Min Aung Hlaing pardoned 23,047 prisoners, including 137 foreigners. Min Aung Hlaing also commuted the sentences of some prisoners.
Myanmar media said at least three of the prisoners released from Yangon’s Insein prison on Saturday were political prisoners arrested in 2019.
Democracy activists have called for the cancellation of this year’s festivities to focus on the country’s efforts to restore democracy. Myanmar military groups staged a coup on Feb. 1, arresting the democratically elected government leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Burmese activist group, said a total of 3,141 people were arrested along with Aung San Suu Kyi around the same time.
A junta spokesman said, “Most of these detainees were arrested before Feb. 1, but some were also arrested after that.” He did not say, however, whether any of those amnestied were detained for their participation in protests against the military coup.
The Political Prisoners Aid Association said the military was preparing to release several thousand prisoners on the one hand, but was continuing to arrest 832 people involved in the protests on the other. Two hundred of them are accused of inciting dissent within the armed forces, a charge that could lead to three years in prison. Some of these 200 people are internet celebrities, actors and singers.
Christina Kyi, a well-known Burmese film director, and his actor husband Zenn Kyi were arrested at Yangon airport on Saturday. They were about to board a flight to Bangkok, Thailand.
The country is in turmoil following the military coup. The military said Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party had committed fraud in the general election late last year, criticizing the government’s lack of investigation and using it as a reason to dismiss the elected government.
The democratically elected government existed for five years, after the military government ruled Burma for more than 20 years. The Burmese people are furious at the re-emergence of military rule. They have persisted in various forms of protest despite the harsh repression by security forces. So far, security forces have shot and killed 728 people.
On Friday, political leaders from all sides in Myanmar announced the formation of a national unity government involving Aung San Suu Kyi and various protest groups and ethnic minorities.
The new government says it is a legitimate political entity and has called for international recognition.
Myanmar’s military government has yet to comment. It said after the coup that it wanted to hold new elections within two years, at which time it would return power to the party that won the elections.
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