Myanmar’s military junta has declared the amnesty release of almost 6,000 prisoners for a typical amnesty to mark the nation’s 77th Independence Day. The amnesty, released on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, will let over 5,800 prisoners out from its prisons, including 180 foreigners who will be deported after their release. The junta specified neither the crimes for which the prisoners were convicted nor the nationalities of foreign detainees but reported that 144 people sentenced to life imprisonment will have their sentence reduced to 15 years.
This move comes as Myanmar marks its independence from British colonial rule, though the country has been under military control since the 2021 coup that overthrew the democratically elected government. The military junta has arrested thousands of activists and protesters who opposed the coup, fueling ongoing political unrest.
Myanmar often pardons prisoners on national holidays or Buddhist festivals. Last year, the junta released more than 9,000 prisoners on Independence Day.
On the occasion, some 500 government and military officials attended the junta’s annual independence ceremony in Naypyidaw. The junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, was not present, but his speech was delivered by Deputy Army Chief Soe Win, who reaffirmed the junta’s commitment to holding delayed elections and called for peace with the ethnic armed groups fighting the military for control of parts of the country.
Soe Win appealed to the groups to disarm and find an amicable political settlement, even as junta’s promise for democratic reforms remain doubted.
