Myanmar begins amnesty of more than 2,000 prisoners

Myanmar’s government said it had started releasing more than 2,000 prisoners on Wednesday, including journalists who had been jailed for reporting on protests against the military.

Buses were seen taking freed detainees from the Insein prison in Yangon, where political prisoners are often held.

Deputy Information Minister Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun told the Chinese state news agency Xinhua the released prisoners were those “who took part in the protests but did not take part in the violence, who did not commit crimes and did not lead the riots.”

No reason was given for the timing of the releases, but the UN General Assembly called this month for an arms embargo to be slapped on the Southeast Asian nation.

The amnesty had been announced by junta officials earlier in the day. A similar move was made at the end of April when the army freed more than 20,00 people during the Buddhist new year.

Most of those jailed are charged with public order offenses, while journalists have been specifically charged with spreading fake news.

Army crackdown over 'rigged' vote

The non-profit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said 883 people have been killed and more than 6,400 arrested since a coup d’etat earlier this year.

Myanmar’s military seized power in February, claiming that a November 2020 election won by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy had been rigged.

But international observers dismissed those claims, saying the election was free and fair.

The Asian Network for Free Elections said at the time that the outcome of the vote was "by and large, representative of the will of the people of Myanmar."

Suu Kyi and other elected officials were arrested on February 1. She went on trial for sedition on June 14th.

Her supporters say the charges are politically motivated and designed to discredit her.

Junta officials last week were hit by EU and UK sanctions over their crackdown.

jf/sms (AP, dpa)