23,000 prisoners pardoned in Burma
RANGOON, Burma — Burma’s junta on Saturday announced that it had pardoned and released more than 23,000 prisoners to mark the Thingyan New Year holiday, but it wasn’t clear if they included pro-democracy activists who were detained in the wake of the military’s seizure of power in February.
The releases were announced on state broadcaster MRTV, which said junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing had pardoned 23,047 prisoners, including 137 foreigners who will be deported. He also reduced sentences for others.
The move comes as daily protests against the Feb. 1 ouster of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi continue, as does the use of deadly force against them.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors casualties and arrests, government forces have killed at least 728 protesters and bystanders since the takeover. The group says 3,141 people, including Suu Kyi, are in detention.
Unconfirmed but credible accounts with photos on social media claimed that three people were killed by security forces Saturday in a violent crackdown in the central city of Mogok in Burma’s gem-mining region.
Detainees released Saturday from Rangoon’s Insein Prison included at least three political prisoners who were jailed in 2019, said witnesses and local news reports.
The three are members of the Peacock Generation performing troupe who were arrested during New Year celebrations for skits that poked fun at military representatives in Parliament and at military involvement in business.
Their traditional style of acting is called Thangyat, a mash-up of poetry, comedy and music with a sharp undertone of satire. Several members of the troupe were convicted under a law banning circulation of information that could endanger or demoralize members of the military. The actors may have drawn the wrath of the military because they performed in army uniforms.
Several members were also found guilty of online defamation for livestreaming their performances. It could not be ascertained whether all imprisoned members of the troupe were released.
Another freed prisoner was Ross Dunkley, an Australian newspaper entrepreneur sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2019 for drug possession. His release was confirmed by his ex-wife, Cynda Johnston, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Dunkley co-founded the The Myanmar Times, an English-language daily, but was forced to give up his share in it. He became well-known for co-founding or acquiring English-language publications in formerly socialist states that were seeking foreign investment as they liberalized their economies, but he was sometimes criticized for doing business with authoritarian regimes.
Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that ruling military authorities adopted in 1989. Opposition leader Suu Kyi and other regime opponents have refused to adopt the name change, as have the U.S. and Britain.
Early prisoner releases are customary during major holidays, and this is the second batch the ruling junta has announced since taking power.
After the release of more than 23,000 convicts to mark Union Day on Feb. 12, there were reports on social media that some were recruited by the authorities to carry out violence in residential areas at night to spread panic, especially by setting fires. Some areas responded by setting up neighborhood watch groups.
In March, more than 600 people who were imprisoned for demonstrating against the February coup were released from Insein Prison, a rare conciliatory gesture by the military that appeared aimed at placating the protest movement.
Those freed were mostly young people caught in sweeps of street demonstrations, while those considered protest leaders were kept locked up.
Neither the military government nor those opposed to it show any signs of backing off from their struggle for power. Western nations have tried to pressure the military through diplomatic and economic sanctions with little evident effect.
Burma’s Southeast Asian neighbors, concerned about the prospects for regional instability, are also trying to get the junta to start back on the path to restoring democracy, or at least to end its violent repression.
A spokesman for Thailand’s Foreign Ministry in Bangkok said Saturday that Min Aung Hlaing has confirmed he will attend a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations expected to be held next Saturday.
Indonesia has taken the lead in calling for the special meeting to discuss the crisis in Burma.