1619 prisoners to be released in Myanmar

MRTV television announced that Myanmar’s military leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, pardoned 1619 prisoners, 42 of whom were foreign detainees, due to the traditional New Year holiday, and that these people would be released.

Khin Shwe, spokesperson of Myanmar Prison Unit, said that those who were released were mostly ordinary criminals or convicted of drug trafficking, and that he did not know whether there were political prisoners among them.

An official from Yangon’s Insein Prison stated that 160 prisoners have been released so far, but none of them have been convicted of political crimes.

Tun Kyi, a member of the Former Political Prisoners Association, said it was not surprising that political prisoners were not released because the general considered those who opposed his government to be criminals.

military coup in Myanmar

The Myanmar army seized power on February 1, 2021, after allegations of fraud in the general elections in 2020 and political tension in the country.

The army had detained many officials and ruling party leaders, especially the country’s de facto leader and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, and declared a state of emergency for a year.

According to the United Nations, 1,500 civilians have died in Myanmar since last year’s coup, and more than 400,000 people have been displaced.