Myanmar’s embattled junta government on Saturday said it would release almost 6,000 prisoners as part of an annual amnesty to mark the country’s independence day.
The military has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its February 2021 coup that ended Myanmar’s brief democratic experiment and plunged the nation into turmoil.
More than 5,800 prisoners — including 180 foreigners — will be freed, the junta said in a statement on Saturday, when the country marks 77 years of independence from British colonial rule.
Around 600 of those included in the amnesty had been sentenced under Section 505 (a) of the penal code, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in an audio statement to media.
The law prohibits any action deemed to undermine the military and carries a maximum jail term of three years.
He added that “most” of the foreigners pardoned were Thai nationals who…
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