IN PICS | Myanmar junta releases over 3,000 prisoners in Buddhist New Year amnesty

Myanmar's junta, on Monday (April 17), released 3,113 prisoners, including 98 foreigners, from the Insein Prison, the country’s largest penitentiary, to mark the traditional lunar New Year holiday. However, the military did not specify if it includes those arrested for opposing army rule.

The announcement of the releases was made via two separate statements. 

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing "pardoned 3,015 prisoners... to mark Myanmar New Year, for the peaceful mind of the people and on humanitarian grounds," said the army's information team, as per AFP.

Subsequently, in a separate junta statement said that 98 foreigners serving sentences in Myanmar would also be pardoned and freed. 

At least 100 people were seen outside the Insein prison after hoping that their family or friends were included in the amnesty and released, as per media reports. 

Mass prisoner releases in Myanmar are common around major holidays, as the junta periodically grants an amnesty to detainees. 

However, the numbers this year and in 2022 have been a fraction of the 23,000 released during the same Buddhist holiday in 2021.

An official from Yangon’s Insein Prison, who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press, that the number of people to be freed was not yet known and while the releases began on Monday they can go on for days. 

On Monday, two yellow buses later pulled out from the prison compound and people waiting outside were seen waving and calling to those inside.

According to an activist group called Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 17,460 political detainees remain in detention and 3,240 civilians have been killed by the junta. 

This comes nearly two years after the military following a coup ousted the democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi who had been a figurehead of opposition to military rule. 

Among those detained also include the former civilian leader Suu Kyi who is serving her 33 years in prison sentence after multiple trials which have since been internationally condemned and called a sham.

Speaking to AFP, Win Win Htay, said that her her younger brother had been jailed for four months after police stopped him at a checkpoint and found a small knife on his keychain. "I hope he will be released today," she told the news agency while waiting outside the prison. 

Myanmar has been under military rule since February 2021 after the coup and was met with mostly non-violent resistance. In a statement, Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe, a state secretary of the junta, said the amnesty is a "celebration of Myanmar's New Year to bring joy for the people and address humanitarian concerns," reported Reuters. 

With over 17,000 political detainees, as per the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, many human rights organisations and world leaders have repeatedly called on the junta to release all political prisoners. 

A senior member of the Former Political Prisoners Society, Tun Kyi said they have no idea how many political prisoners would be among those released if at all, reported the Associated Press. 

However, he added, such an action would be better for the image of the military government. 

As his group viewed such releases as the junta's bid to score political points, ease international pressure and seek to demonstrate the military’s legitimacy, reported the AP.