Myanmar junta to set free at least 5,000 protesters
YANGON: Myanmar’s junta chief on Monday announced the release of more than 5,000 people jailed for protesting against a February coup, days after a regional bloc delivered a major snub to the military regime.
There has been chaos in Myanmar since the coup, with more than 1,100 civilians killed in a bloody crackdown on dissent and more than 8,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group.
More than 7,300 are currently behind bars, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Junta head Min Aung Hlaing said a total of 5,636 prisoners will be freed to mark the Thadingyut festival later in October. The announcement comes on the heels of Asean’s decision to exclude Hlaing from an upcomtesters ing summit of the 10-country bloc over his administration’s commitment to defusing the bloody crisis.
Hlaing gave no details on who would be included in the list and prison authorities did not respond to AFP requests for comment.
Myanmar authorities released more than 2,000 anti-coup profrom prisons across the country in June, including journalists critical of the military government.
Those still in custody include the American journalist Danny Fenster, who has been held since being arrested on May 24.
More than 1,300 of those due to be released would be freed on the condition they sign agreements promising not to re-offend, Hlaing said.
Such agreements were “basically a form of parole that entails constant menacing surveillance”, David Mathieson, an analyst formerly based in Myanmar, told AFP. “It doesn’t absolve the SAC (State Administration Council as the junta calls itself) of nine months of extreme violence.”
Foreign ministers from the Asean group on Friday decided to exclude Hlaing, instead choosing to invite a “non-political representative” for Myanmar to the October 26-28 summit.