Myanmar releases 3000 prisoners including 98 foreigners

The military junta of Myanmar released 3,113 prisoners – including 98 foreigners – from prison today to mark the country’s traditional new year, according to a statement released on a pro-junta Telegram channel.

Secretary-general of the junta Min Aung Hlaing said the amnesty is a “celebration of Myanmar’s New Year to bring joy for the people and address humanitarian concerns.”

The junta didn’t say if political prisoners jailed in its bloody crackdown on dissent were among the 3,000 freed from prison.

Anyone released who re-offends will have to serve the remainder of their sentence with an additional penalty, the statement said.

After the junta took power over Myanmar by a military coup in February 2021, ousting the democratically-elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the junta released 23,000 prisoners from prison, prompting fears that the prisoners were granted amnesty to make room for anti-junta critics.

According to recent data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a total of 3,240 people, including pro-democracy activists and other civilians, have been killed in the junta crackdown against the pro-democracy movement.

Since the coup, 21,348 people were arrested with 17,460 still under detention, and 5,586 serving sentences, according to the association. As of April 12, there are 109 prisoners on death row.

Among the detained include ousted 77 year old leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who the junta sentenced to 33 years in prison after 18 months of trials since the coup on 18 charges.

An airstrike by the junta on Pa Zi Gyi village in central Myanmar killed at least 171 people on Tuesday, according to local media reports.

The deliberate attack began with a jet fighter dropping bombs followed by an Mi-35 helicopter dropping bombs and gunfire.

In October last year, a parcel bomb blast killed eight people at Insein Prison on the outskirts of Yangon. Three prison staff and five visitors were killed, including four women and a 10 year old girl, who were all relatives of political prisoners.