Myanmar frees around 4,900 prisoners including some political detainees
[April 17, 2025]
BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military government
granted amnesty to around 4,900 prisoners to mark the country's
traditional new year, state-run media reported Thursday, and an
independent watchdog said they included at least 22 political detainees.
At least 19 buses with prisoners aboard left Yangon's Insein prison and
were welcomed outside the gate by excited family members and friends who
had been waiting since early morning.
The Political Prisoners Network — Myanmar, an independent watchdog group
that records violations of human rights in Myanmar’s prisons, said in a
statement that by its initial count, 22 political prisoners had been
freed.
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the ruling military council,
pardoned 4,893 prisoners, MRTV reported. Thirteen foreigners will also
be released and deported from Myanmar, it said in a separate statement.
Other prisoners received reduced sentences, except for those convicted
of serious charges such as murder and rape, or those jailed on charges
under various other security acts.
If the freed detainees violate the law again, they will have to serve
the remainder of their original sentences in addition to any new
sentence, according to the terms of their release. Mass amnesties on the
holiday are not unusual in Myanmar.
Myanmar has been under military rule since Feb. 1, 2021, when its army
ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government. The
takeover was met with massive nonviolent resistance, which has since
become a widespread armed struggle. The country is now in civil war.
Some 22,197 political detainees, including Suu Kyi, were in detention as
of last Friday, according to the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners, an independent organization that keeps detailed tallies of
arrests and casualties linked to the nation’s political conflicts.
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A released prisoner, center, is welcomed by family members outside
the main gate of Insein prison as the head of Myanmar’s military
government granted amnesty to thousands of prisoners to mark the
country's traditional New Year Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Yangon,
Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
Many political detainees had been held on a charge of incitement, a
catch-all offense widely used to arrest critics of the government or
military and punishable by up to three years in prison.
Among those imprisoned for incitement who were freed Thursday was
the film director who works under the name of Steel and is also
known as Dwe Myittar. He was arrested in March 2023 and had been
held in Insein Prison.
This year’s celebrations of Thingyan, the new year’s holiday, were
more reserved than usual due to a nationwide grieving period
following a devastating March 28 earthquake that killed about 3,725
people and leveled structures from new condos to ancient pagodas.
In a new year’s speech, Min Aung Hlaing said his government will
carry out reconstruction and rehabilitation measures in the
quake-affected areas as quickly as possible. He also reaffirmed
plans to hold a general election by the end of the year and called
on opposition groups fighting the army to resolve the conflicts in
political ways.
During the holiday, the violent struggle between the army and
pro-democracy forces continued with reports of clashes in the
countryside but the number of casualties was unclear.
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