Myanmar: Pardon frees more than 2,100 political prisoners

Myanmars ruling military council on Wednesday said it was releasing more than 2100 political prisoners as a humanitarian gesture Thousands more remain imprisoned on charges generally involving nonviolent protests or criticism of military rule which began when the army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu KyiStaterun MRTV television reported that the head of Myanmars military council Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing had pardoned 2153 prisoners on the most important Buddhist holy day of the year marking the birth enlightenment and death of BuddhaThe releases began on Wednesday but may take a few days to be completed The identities of those released were not immediately available but would not include Suu Kyi who is serving a prison term of 33 years on more than a dozen charges her supporters say were trumped up by the militaryAccording to an official announcement on state media all of the prisoners granted pardon on Wednesday had been convicted under a section of Myanmars penal code that makes it a crime to spread comments that create public unrest or fear or spread false news and carries a penalty of up to three years in prisonThe terms of the pardon warn that if the freed detainees violate the law again they will have to serve the remainder of their original sentences in addition to whatever term they are given for their new offenseMass prisoner releases are common on major holidays in Myanmar The last release of so many political prisoners at one time occurred in July 2021 when 2296 prisoners were freedIn November last year several high profile political prisoners including an Australian academic a Japanese filmmaker an exBritish diplomat and an American were released as part of a broad prisoner amnesty that also freed many local citizens held for protesting the army takeoverThe Assistance Association for Political Prisoners had said on Tuesday that 17897 people taken into custody since the 2021 army takeover remained in detentionThe group keeps detailed tallies of arrests and casualties linked to the repression of the military governmentPrisoner releases appear to be efforts by the hardline military government to soften its image as a major human rights abuser Last week former UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon urged Myanmars military to take the initiative in finding a way out of the countrys violent political crisis including releasing political detainees after a surprise meeting with Min Aung HlaingAlso readAssam Rifles to beef up security along IndiaMyanmar border to stop influxA statement following the meeting said Ban supported the international communitys calls for the immediate release by the Myanmar military of all arbitrarily detained prisoners for constructive dialogue and for utmost restraint from all partiesThe amnesty also came a day after Min Aung Hlaing met with the visiting foreign minister of China which has provided key support to his regime since it seized powerMRTV said on Tuesday that Qin Gang held talks in the capital Naypyitaw with Min Aung Hlaing and other top officials and exchanged views on bilateral relations Myanmars political situation and conditions needed for its stability and developmentChina has strategic geopolitical and economic interests in Myanmar its southern neighbour and is one of the few large nations that has maintained good relations with its military government which is shunned and sanctioned by many Western nations for its takeover and brutal repression of its opponentsMyanmar has been in turmoil since the army took power Its takeover prompted peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with bloody violence Violence has since escalated with the rise of armed resistance around the country and major military efforts to suppress itAs of Tuesday 3452 civilians had been killed by the security forces since the military takeover according to the Assistance Association for Political PrisonersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever