The leader of the Military Junta of Myanmar granted an amnesty to nearly 4,900 prisoners to mark the traditional New Year of the country, reported the state media.
At least 19 buses carrying prisoners left Yangon Insein prison and were welcomed in front of the door by family members and friends who have been waiting for early in the morning.
Network of political prisoners – Myanmar, an independent surveillance group which records human rights violations in the prisons of Myanmar, said in a statement only by its initial account, 22 political prisoners had been released.
The main general Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of the military council in power, pardoned 4,893 prisoners, reported MRTV.
Thirteen foreigners will also be published and expelled from the country, he said in a separate statement.
Other prisoners have been sentenced to reduced penalties, with the exception of recognized people guilty of serious accusations such as murder and rape, or people imprisoned under various other security laws.
If the prisoners released again violate the law, they will have to purge the rest of their original sentences in addition to any new sentence, under the terms of their release.
Mass amnesties on vacation are not unusual in Myanmar.
Myanmar has been under military regime since February 2021, when its army has ousted the elected government of civilian chief Aung San Suu Kyi.
This takeover has encountered a massive non -violent resistance, which has since transformed into a widespread armed struggle.
Some 22 197 political detainees, including SUU Kyi, were in detention last Friday, according to the Association for Political Prisoners, an independent organization which maintains detailed accounts of arrests and victims linked to the country's political conflicts.
Many political detainees had been held in charge of incitement, an oven offense widely used to stop criticism from the government or the military and liable to a sentence of up to three years in prison.
Journalism attacked
One of the former released prisoners was Hanthar Nyein, news producer of Kamayut Media, who was arrested in March 2021 with the co-founder, the American journalist Nathan Maung, after the authorities made a descent into their office in Yangon.
Maung was released and deported to the United States in June of the same year.
Hanthar Nyein had received a total of seven years' imprisonment after being found guilty of incitement in March 2022 and violated the law on electronic transactions, an accusation which, according to criticism, said freedom of expression in December of the same year.
ADVERTISEMENTMaung told the New York -based committee to protect journalists that he and Hanthar Nyein were blindfolded, beaten, deprived of food and water and otherwise tortured during interrogations in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar.
More than 220 journalists have been detained since the military coup of 2021, according to the United States International Center for non-profit law, with at least 51 still detained in prison.
This year Thingyan celebrations, the New Year's Holidays were more reserved than usual due to a period of national mourning after a devastating earthquake on March 28, which killed around 3,725 people.
In a New Year's speech, Min Aung Hlaing said her government would carry out reconstruction and rehabilitation measures in the earthquakes that are faster.
ADVERTISEMENTHe also reaffirmed plans to hold a general election by the end of the year and called opposition groups fighting the army to resolve conflicts in a political manner.
