Burma releases imprisoned protesters
RANGOON, Burma — Hundreds of people imprisoned for demonstrating against last month’s coup in Burma were released Wednesday in a rare conciliatory gesture by the military that appeared aimed at placating the protest movement.
Witnesses outside Insein Prison in Rangoon saw busloads of mostly young people, with many looking happy and some flashing the three-finger gesture of defiance adopted by protesters. State-run TV said a total of 628 people were freed.
Also Wednesday, Thein Zaw, a journalist for The Associated Press who was arrested last month while covering an anti-coup protest, was released.
Burma’s security forces have cracked down violently on protests against the Feb. 1 coup, which reversed a decade of progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian country and ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says at least 275 people have been killed in connection with the crackdown. Thousands have been arrested, and more than 2,000 remain in custody or have outstanding charges against them.
Wednesday’s release was an unusual overture by the military, which has so far seemed impervious to both internal pressure from protests and outside pressure from sanctions. In the face of an increasingly brutal crackdown, demonstrators on Wednesday tried a new tactic that they dubbed a silence strike, calling for people to stay home and for businesses to close for the day.
The released prisoners appeared to be the hundreds of students detained in early March. One lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity because she fears drawing attention from the authorities, said all of those released were arrested March 3. She said only 55 people detained in connection with the protests remained in the prison and that it is likely they will all face charges under a law that carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.
The mass release came the same day Thein Zaw was freed. The journalist said the judge in his case announced during a hearing that all charges against him were dropped because he was doing his job at the time of his arrest.
“I’m looking forward to meeting my family members,” he said. “I’m sorry for some colleagues who are still in prison.”
The Associated Press and many press freedom organizations have called for the release of Thein Zaw and the other detained members of the press.
“The Associated Press is deeply relieved that AP journalist Thein Zaw has been freed from prison in Myanmar,” said Ian Phillips, Associated Press vice president for international news. “Our relief is tempered by the fact that additional journalists there remain detained. We urge Myanmar to release all journalists and allow them to report freely and safely on what is happening inside the country.”
Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that military authorities adopted in 1989. Some nations, such as the United States and Britain, have refused to adopt the name change.
Thein Zaw was arrested as he was photographing police, some of them armed, charging down a street at anti-coup protesters. A video shows that although he stepped to the side of the street to get out of their way, several officers rushed over and surrounded him. One put him in a choke hold as he was handcuffed and then taken away.
On Wednesday, messages online urged people to stay home in protest — rather than flooding the streets as they have in the past — saying silence is “the loudest scream.” The messages explained that the strike’s purpose was to honor the movement’s fallen heroes, to allow protesters to recharge and to contradict the junta’s claims that “everything is back to normal.”
The extent of the strike was difficult to gauge, but social media users posted photos from cities and towns showing streets empty of activity save for an occasional stray dog. Some protesters did go out to release red balloons with leaflets attached.
The new tactic was employed after an extended onslaught of violence from security forces.
Local media reported that a 7-year-old girl in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city, was among the latest victims Tuesday. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners included her in its list of fatalities.