NewzVille International
Myanmar’s ruling military junta said on Saturday it would release more than 6,000 prisoners as part of an annual amnesty marking the country’s Independence Day.
In a statement, the Acting President of the Union of the Republic of Myanmar said 6,134 prisoners serving sentences in prisons, detention centres and labour camps had been granted pardons.
The authorities said 52 foreign prisoners would also be released and deported.
The amnesty was granted on “humanitarian and compassionate grounds,” according to the National Security Council, as Myanmar marks 78 years of independence from British colonial rule.
The military has detained thousands of protesters, activists and political opponents since its February 2021 coup that ended the country’s brief democratic experiment.
