BANGKOK—Burma’s ruling military junta plans an early release of thousands of prisoners to allow them to vote in long-awaited November elections, but democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and other key opposition leaders are unlikely to be on the list.
Up to 11,000 prisoners could be freed, based on varying figures cited by news agencies quoting junta officials.
"We have plans to release some prisoners who are soon to complete their sentence," an official told AFP on Oct. 10, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We will reduce their sentence and release them in the coming days so that they can vote on the election day."
It was not clear if Burma’s political prisoners, numbering over 2,200, would be included in the release, but a corrections department official said about 11,000 prisoners could be freed, AFP said.
These included detainees whose sentences would already be over by polling day, as well as some early releases, it said.
"The number could be more, as we are still listing them," the official added, without saying when the releases would begin.
Reuters reported a day later that the military government was planning early releases for 3,000 prisoners.
Political detainees
Those slated for early release would be prisoners whose terms were due to end in November or December, but it was not known what crimes they were convicted of or whether any were political detainees, Reuters said.
Rights groups say that more than 2,200 political activists are currently in detention in Burma. The government insists it has no political detainees in any of its 43 prisons or 100 labor camps.
"Necessary preparations are under way, and about 3,000 inmates are expected to be freed," a prison department official told Reuters. He asked not to be named.
"As far as I know, there is a plan to reduce the prison terms of the inmates by up to 30 days with the intent to enable them to vote in the upcoming elections."
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 20 years in detention and is barred, as a serving prisoner, from standing in the upcoming vote.
Ignored by junta
Her house arrest is due to end on Nov. 13, six days after the country's first election since 1990. That vote was won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s now-defunct National League for Democracy (NLD) party but ignored by the junta.
The junta “could release criminals, and only a few political prisoners will be included,” Nyan Win, a NLD spokesman, said.
“As for Aung San Suu Kyi, I don’t think she will be included … whenever she is released after being detained, they (authorities) always think about it separately ... she is never included in this kind of mass release,” he said.
But Nyan Win said the democracy icon could be released on Nov. 13, when her sentence ends.
There are usually more than 50,000 convicted criminals in Burma's 43 prisons and 100 labor sites at any one time, as well as about 6,000 awaiting trial, according to the privately owned but state-censored Myanmar Times.
The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and political dissidents has sparked condemnation from the international community and rights groups, who do not expect the upcoming election to be free or fair.
Reported by Khin Khin Ei for RFA’s Burmese service and news agencies.