Myanmar amnesty to free 6,186 prisoners on Independence Day

Myanmar’s military government will release 6,186 prisoners in an Independence Day amnesty, state media reported on Saturday, as the country’s multi-stage general election continues.

Myanmar’s Independence Day is January 4 each year, marking the country’s independence from Britain on January 4, 1948.

State-run MRTV said the amnesty includes 52 foreign nationals and framed the move as a humanitarian step taken with the public’s peace of mind in mind.

The junta also announced a one-sixth reduction in sentences nationwide, but said the cut would not apply to those convicted of serious offences including murder, rape, terrorism, corruption, and weapons- or drug-related crimes.

It was not immediately clear whether the amnesty would cover any political detainees.

Myanmar has faced upheaval since 2021, when the military overthrew the elected civilian government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover was followed by a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests, fuelling a nationwide armed rebellion.

Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year prison term after being detained during the coup, months after her National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory. The party was later dissolved.

A human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, says more than 30,000 people have been detained on political charges since the coup.

Resistance groups formed after the takeover, alongside long-established ethnic armed organisations, are fighting the military across much of the country, displacing an estimated 3.6 million people.

The first round of the election, Myanmar’s first since 2020, was held last weekend. Opposition groups, the United Nations and some Western governments have condemned the vote as a sham, arguing that anti-junta parties are excluded and that it is illegal to criticise the polls.