BANGKOK: More than 2,100 political prisoners will be freed as a humanitarian gesture, according to the ruling military council of Myanmar on Wednesday. Thousands more stay detained on charges by and large including peaceful fights or analysis of military rule, which started when the military held onto power in February 2021 from the chosen legislature of Aung San Suu Kyi.
State-run MRTV TV announced that the top of Myanmar's tactical chamber, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, had acquitted 2,153 detainees on the main Buddhist blessed day of the year, denoting the birth, edification and passing of Buddha.
The releases started on Wednesday, but they might not be finished for a few days. While Suu Kyi, who is currently serving a 33-year prison sentence for more than a dozen charges that her supporters claim were trumped up by the military, was not among those who were released, their identities were not immediately available.
As per an authority declaration on state media, the detainees in general conceded pardon on Wednesday had been sentenced under a segment of Myanmar's corrective code that makes it a wrongdoing to spread remarks that make public turmoil or dread, or spread misleading news, and conveys a punishment of as long as three years in jail.
The terms of the pardon warn that if the freed detainees violate the law once more, they will have to serve the remainder of their previous sentences in addition to the new sentence they are given.
Myanmar has a history of large-scale prisoner releases during major holidays. The last arrival of such countless political detainees all at once happened in July 2021, when 2,296 detainees were liberated.
In November last year, a few high profile political detainees, including an Australian scholar, a Japanese movie producer, an ex-English negotiator and an American, were delivered as a component of a wide detainee pardon that likewise liberated numerous neighborhood residents held for fighting the military takeover.
On Tuesday, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported that 17,897 individuals who had been detained since the 2021 army takeover were still in custody. The group keeps detailed records of the arrests and casualties associated with the military government's repression.
The hard-line military government appears to be trying to soften its reputation as a major violator of human rights with the release of prisoners.
After a surprise meeting with Min Aung Hlaing last week, the former Secretary General of the United Nations urged the military of Myanmar to take the initiative in finding a way out of the country's violent political crisis, including releasing political detainees.
Ban "supported the international community's calls for the immediate release by the Myanmar military of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, for constructive dialogue, and for the utmost restraint from all parties," according to a statement that came out after the meeting.
In addition, the amnesty was granted a day after Min Aung Hlaing met with the Chinese foreign minister on a visit. China has been a major supporter of his regime ever since it took power.
According to MRTV, on Tuesday, Qin Gang met with Min Aung Hlaing and other high-ranking officials in the capital, Naypyitaw, and discussed bilateral relations, Myanmar's political situation, and the conditions required for its stability and development.
One of the few large nations that has maintained good relations with Myanmar's military government, which is shunned and sanctioned by many Western nations for its takeover and brutal repression of its opponents, China has strategic geopolitical and economic interests in Myanmar, its southern neighbor.
Since the army took power, Myanmar has been in turmoil. Its takeover sparked peaceful protests that were violently crushed by security forces. Since then, the country has seen an increase in armed resistance and significant military efforts to quell it.
As of Tuesday, 3,452 regular folks had been killed by the security powers since the tactical takeover, as indicated by the Help Relationship for Political Detainees.