Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese
UPDATED April 17, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. ET
BANGKOK – Myanmar’s junta chief held talks in Thailand on Thursday with Malaysia’s prime minister that were expected to focus on peace efforts and quake relief as his military government released almost 5,000 prisoners for its Buddhist New Year’s amnesty.
Only about 100 political prisoners were freed in the amnesty, an activist group said. Prominent political detainees – such as former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi – remain behind bars or under house arrest. Suu Kyi has been held incommunicado since the early days of a 2021 coup when military chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power. Her exact whereabouts are unknown.
State-run MRTV reported Thursday night that Min Aung Hlaing met with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Bangkok. Malaysia is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, which has tried, but failed, to broker a peace in Myanmar for the past four years.
The two leaders discussed aid by ASEAN in the aftermath of last month’s earthquake that killed more than 3,700 people in Myanmar, MRTV said. Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra - the father of the current Thai premier and an informal advisor to Anwar - also attended the meeting, the report said.
Anwar posted on X that he and Min Aung Hlaing held a “frank and constructive discussion, focused on the urgent humanitarian needs” after the quake. He welcomed the prisoner amnesty as a step to “reduce tensions.”
Petang tadi, saya telah bertemu dengan Jeneral Kanan Min Aung Hlaing, Pengerusi Majlis Pentadbiran Negara Myanmar.
— Anwar Ibrahim (@anwaribrahim) April 17, 2025
Dalam pertemuan lebih satu jam ini, kami berbincang secara terbuka dan konstruktif, dengan tumpuan kepada keperluan mendesak untuk menyegerakan bantuan kemanusiaan,…
He said he would meet Friday with representatives of the shadow National Unity Government, Myanmar’s main opposition group.
Activists were underwhelmed by the amnesty. MRTV said the military council pardoned 4,893 prisoners including 13 foreigners. None of those freed were key figures from Suu Kyi’s ousted government.
“The military council is just trying to save face with ASEAN. They included only a small number of political prisoners,” said Thaik Htun Oo, referring the Southeast Asian bloc. He’s the founder of the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network-Myanmar (PPNM), which said that as of Thursday evening, just over 100 of those freed were political detainees.
A Yangon-based lawyer, who declined to be named for security reasons, said many of those released were due to be freed in a few months anyway.
The junta also announced that some prisoners would have their sentences reduced by one-sixth, but explicitly excluded those convicted under a range of laws commonly used to target political opponents and anti-junta fighters. These include terrorism and unlawful association charges, as well as laws concerning explosives and firearms.
A political analyst, who also asked to remain unnamed with security concerns, noted that such exclusions disproportionately affect members of the pro-democracy movement, ethnic armed groups, and former National League for Democracy officials – effectively preserving the military regime’s grip on its most vocal critics.
Several former politicians under the NLD, have died shortly after being released from prison, with their family members saying that they were denied healthcare for chronic conditions. Although junta leaders often grant amnesty to prisoners on public holidays, many are re-arrested just days later.
The junta has been widely criticized for arresting citizens en masse for protests against its 2021 coup, speaking out against politicians online and other charges activists have claimed are trumped up and done through sham court trials. Similarly, the junta has arrested hundreds of members of the former civilian NLD administration ousted in the coup.
From 2021 to April 11, 2025, more than 22,100 people have been charged by the junta and of them, more than 10,700 have been sentenced, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang and Mat Pennington.
Updated with Myanmar junta chief meeting Malaysian PM.