Myanmar’s junta has released 5,864 prisoners, including about 600 political prisoners, to mark Independence Day, a spokesman for the military said, but there was no sign that one of the world’s most famous political prisoners, Aung San Suu Kyi, would be set free.
Myanmar has a tradition on big holidays of mass prisoner releases, with the majority being those jailed for ordinary crimes. Occasionally political prisoners are included.
Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the junta known as the State Administration Council, said in a statement that 5,864 prisoners had been granted amnesty.
“About 600 people prosecuted under 505 will be included,” he said on Independence Day on Saturday, referring to a section of the penal code that includes spreading fear and false news, which is used to target critics of the junta that seized power in 2021.
The spokesman said 180 foreigners were being released, most of whom are believed to be from neighboring countries such as Thailand.
There had been speculation that Myanmar’s most popular politician, Suu Kyi, might be released but the spokesman did not mention her and he did not respond to attempts to reach him for comment.
The 79-year-old daughter of the hero of Myanmar’s campaign for independence from British colonial rule was arrested after the 2021 coup in which an elected government she led was ousted.
She was later sentenced on charges she dismissed as trumped up and jailed for 33 years. Her sentence was reduced to 27 years.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is believed to be in solitary confinement in prison in the capital, Naypyidaw, but her exact whereabouts are not known while concern for her health grows.
Her younger son, Kim Aris, thanked his mother’s supporters for their prayers and hopes for her release.
“I’ve held the same hope for her. Please don’t give up. Let’s continue to hold onto hope,” he said in a video message on Sunday.
The military does not say how many prisoners of conscience it holds but the rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says more than 28,000 civilians have been arrested in the nearly four years since the coup and 21,499 are in detention.
One former political prisoner dismissed the amnesty as window dressing by the junta as it comes under pressure from its neighbors to end the war against ethnic minority and pro-democracy forces that has crippled its economy and triggered a humanitarian crisis.
“It’s just for show to the International community,” the former prisoner who declined to be identified told Radio Free Asia, adding that most of the political prisoners being freed were near the end of their sentences.
“They’re being released a day or two early.”
RELATED STORIES
31 political prisoners died in prisons across Myanmar in 2024
‘Snatch and recruit’ arrests in Myanmar target youth for military service
Junta forces are mobilizing in central Myanmar amid Shan state ceasefire, rebel say
‘It’s a lie’
Among those freed was Khat Aung, a former chief minister of Kachin state when Suu Kyi’s party was in government, who was serving a 12-year term on various charges, the military said.
Model and actress Thin Zar Wint Kyaw who was jailed for five years for her dissent was also released, a source close to her family said.
“Her release has been confirmed, she’s in good health,” said the source.
Prisoners were emerging from jails across the country and rights groups were compiling data.
A source in Kale town in the northwest said 23 people had been released there including four political prisoners. In the central town of Pyay, 11 political prisoners were among 60 people set free, said a source close to the town’s prison.
The Political Prisoner Network Myanmar activist group told RFA that only 344 political prisoners, including 131 women, had been released as of Monday afternoon, not the 600 the junta announced.
“It’s a lie to the public and the international community,” Thaik Tun Oo, a senior member of the group, told RFA from an undisclosed location.
Thaik Tun Oo said the military did not dare release more political prisoners given the unprecedented setbacks it is facing in the war.
“They don’t have the guts to release those sentenced for rebellion, who don’t accept their rule,” said Thaik Tun Oo.
The only hope for most political prisoners was victorious anti-junta forces throwing open their prison gates, he said.
Edited by Mike Firn.