Myanmar’s military regime releases over 7,300 prisoners convicted of financing or sheltering ‘terrorist’ groups, a term used for pro-democracy factions.
YANGON: Myanmar’s military junta has granted amnesty to more than 7,000 prisoners convicted of financing or sheltering a “terrorist group”, a designation it uses for pro-democracy factions opposing its rule.
A government notice stated that junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ordered the release of more than 7,300 prisoners convicted under legislation forbidding the “financing of terrorism” and harbouring or arranging transport for “any terrorist group”.
The junta frequently grants prison amnesties on public holidays, with Monday’s raft of notices also announcing the release of more than 2,800 other prisoners and 10 jailed foreign nationals without detailing their offences.
Min Aung Hlaing granted their release to mark a public holiday on Monday “in consideration of the peace of mind of the general public as well as on humanitarian grounds”, according to the government statement.
An AFP journalist outside Yangon’s infamous Insein Prison saw around 300 prisoners being bussed out of the compound in a convoy on Monday morning.
Emotional relatives clutched bouquets of flowers and placards bearing loved-ones’ names as prisoners were released from Insein’s barbed-wire boundary shortly before noon.
It was not immediately clear which groups the prisoners had been convicted of association with.
Nearly 12,500 people facing trial on the same “terrorism” charges will have their cases dropped, according to a separate statement.
In recent months, the junta has announced pardons for some political crimes in what analysts describe as a bid to soften its image amidst a handover to a nominally civilian government after elections concluded in January.
Critics have derided the transition as a publicity exercise to rebrand the junta’s rule, with Aung San Suu Kyi still jailed, her party dissolved and the dominant pro-military party securing a walkover win.
Thousands of dissenting civilians have been swept into jails since Myanmar’s military snatched power in a 2021 coup, ending a decade-long experiment with democracy.
Pro-democracy activists backing Suu Kyi and armed groups challenging the military in a civil war have been labelled “terrorist” outfits, with far-reaching laws punishing association with life prison terms and possible death sentences.
After ruling by force for more than five years, the military has said its phased month-long election will return power to the people and offer a chance to end the civil war.
The poll did not take place in swaths of the country controlled by rebel groups and Min Aung Hlaing has not ruled out serving as president.
The new parliament is due to sit in two weeks, with a president elected in early April.
The Sun Malaysia
