Myanmar junta to free nearly 5,000 prisoners in amnesty
Myanmar's military government said Thursday it will release nearly 5,000 prisoners in an amnesty to mark the country's new year festivities.
Civil rights groups say the junta has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its 2021 coup cut short Myanmar's experiment with democracy and plunged the nation into a multi-sided civil war.
Amnesties are regularly announced to commemorate national holidays or Buddhist festivals, but most high-profile political prisoners — including deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi — remain detained.
A junta statement said 4,893 prisoners will be pardoned "to participate in the state-building process, for peace of mind of people and on compassionate grounds."
To convey the "loving kindness of the state," the junta also said other prisoners would have their sentences reduced by one-sixth, except for those who had committed serious offenses.
Those offenses include unlawful association and terrorism, as well as murder and rape.
The junta said 13 foreign nationals would also be pardoned and deported, without giving details of their identities or crimes.
Early on Thursday morning crowds of families gathered outside Yangon's Insein prison, prepared to meet those freed.
The amnesty announcement was made as junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was reportedly due to make a rare foreign trip to Bangkok to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is chairing the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc this year.
ASEAN has in the past barred junta officials from its summits over lack of progress on a peace plan.
But Anwar said he would meet Min Aung Hlaing Thursday to discuss the safety of Malaysian humanitarian teams dispatched to Myanmar following last month's magnitude-7.7 earthquake.
The junta has not confirmed the meeting.
Myanmar's ongoing "Thingyan" water festival typically marks the country's new year with water-splashing rituals representing cleansing and renewal.
But celebrations have been muted following the March 28 tremor in the country's central belt, which has killed 3,725 according to the latest official toll.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan to Provide Defense Equipment to 8 Countries Under OSA; Framework Helps Like-Minded Nations Enhance Security Capabilities
The government has begun discussing the selection of eight countries in fiscal 2025 as recipients of the Official Security Assistance (OSA) program that provides defense equipment, according to sources. Japan's OSA aims to help like-minded countries enhance their security capabilities by providing the equipment to member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that are located on important points of Japan's sea lanes, and to Pacific island nations where China is increasing its influence. The government plans to provide the OSA aid to the eight countries, including Thailand, the Philippines and Tonga, as eligible recipients that share the same values as Japan. The defense equipment includes things such as unmanned aerial vehicle drones and high-speed patrol boats. Other potential recipients are Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. In addition to Japan's domestically made drones, the government plans to provide military vessels for search and rescue missions and heavy machineries to be utilized in the event of disasters. Related costs for the provisions are estimated to total about ¥8 billion. The OSA is a framework in which Japan can directly assist military forces of like-minded countries and differs from the official development assistance framework in which aid is limited to non-military fields. Since fiscal 2023, the Japanese government has decided to provide coastal surveillance radar, air control radar and high-speed patrol boats to the Philippines and Mongolia.
Kyodo News
2 days ago
- Kyodo News
Kyodo News Digest: June 20, 2025
KYODO NEWS - 15 hours ago - 23:00 | All, Japan, World The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- 87 Japanese nationals, family members evacuated from Iran, Israel TOKYO - A total of 87 Japanese nationals and their family members have evacuated from Iran and Israel amid conflict in the Middle East, the Japanese government said Friday. The evacuees arrived in Azerbaijan's capital Baku and Jordan's capital Amman by bus as local airports remained closed and none of them had health issues, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said. ---------- Japan to cut super-long-term bond issuances amid rising yields TOKYO - The Japanese government said Friday it plans to reduce issuances of super-long-term bonds from July in a rare review of its original program in the middle of a fiscal year amid concern over a recent surge in yields. But the total amount of bonds scheduled for issuance in the current fiscal year through March 2026 is projected to remain unchanged from the initial plan at 176.9 trillion yen ($1.2 trillion), as the Finance Ministry seeks to increase sales of short-term bonds. ---------- Ex-leader of Japan's junior ruling coalition partner to exit politics TOKYO - The longtime former head of junior coalition partner Komeito, Natsuo Yamaguchi, will retire from politics after deciding not to run in the upcoming House of Councillors election, current leader Tetsuo Saito said Friday. Yamaguchi, 72, led the party -- backed by Japan's largest lay Buddhist organization, Soka Gakkai -- for 15 years from 2009, becoming its longest-serving chief since Komeito joined hands with the Liberal Democratic Party in 1999. ---------- New Zealand PM Luxon talks trade, security with Chinese President Xi SYDNEY - New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday for talks spanning trade, people-to-people ties, and peace and security in the Indo-Pacific, the New Zealand government said in a statement. On his first visit to China since taking office in November 2023, Luxon discussed "the necessity of a stable region and reduced tensions in the Indo-Pacific" with Xi, emphasizing the importance of open, direct dialogue at the leader level to navigate challenging regional and global developments, according to the statement. ---------- Police, prosecutors apologize to 2 men over illicit probe TOKYO - Tokyo police and prosecutors on Friday apologized in person to two men over their wrongful arrest and indictment in 2020 in a case involving the suspected unauthorized export of sensitive equipment. The apology comes after the finalization last week of a Tokyo High Court ruling that ordered the metropolitan government and state to compensate Masaaki Okawara, president of Ohkawara Kakohki Co., and Junji Shimada, one of the company's former directors. ---------- Tokio pop group member removed from TV show over past misconduct TOKYO - A member of Japanese all-male pop group Tokio has been removed from a popular TV program due to past conduct that breached compliance rules on multiple occasions, a TV network said Friday. Taichi Kokubun, 50, was removed from "The Tetsuwan Dash," a variety program aired by Nippon Television Network Corp. and fronted by the members of Tokio. Neither Kokubun, his company nor the TV network has elaborated on what the breaches entailed. ---------- Figure skating: 3-time world champ Kaori Sakamoto to retire after Olympics TOKYO - Japanese figure skater Kaori Sakamoto, winner of three consecutive world championships through 2024, said Friday she will retire from competition after next year's Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The 25-year-old, who claimed women's singles bronze at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, finished second at the world championships in Boston in March. ---------- Japan imperial couple to embark on historic visit to Mongolia in July TOKYO - Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako are scheduled to make a state visit to Mongolia from July 6 to 13 in what will be the first such trip by a Japanese emperor, according to a plan approved by the government on Friday. During the trip, the emperor and empress will lay flowers at a memorial on July 8 to commemorate Japanese nationals who died while in internment camps there after World War II. Video: "Phantom bridge" begins to sink beneath the waters of Lake Nukabira in Hokkaido
The Mainichi
2 days ago
- The Mainichi
Ex-leader of Japan's junior ruling coalition partner to exit politics
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The longtime former head of junior coalition partner Komeito, Natsuo Yamaguchi, will retire from politics after deciding not to run in the upcoming House of Councillors election, current leader Tetsuo Saito said Friday. Yamaguchi, 72, led the party -- backed by Japan's largest lay Buddhist organization, Soka Gakkai -- for 15 years from 2009, becoming its longest-serving chief since Komeito joined hands with the Liberal Democratic Party in 1999. Reflecting on his life as an upper house lawmaker representing Tokyo, Yamaguchi said at a party meeting on Friday, "Thank you for all the support I received. I hope to pass on your kindness to future generations." A popular figure among Komeito supporters, lawyer-turned-politician Yamaguchi was liked for his gentle speaking style. He stepped down as leader last year, saying, "I'm over 70 years of age, and I want to pass the baton to the next generation." He was at the helm of the traditionally pacifist party during a period in which Japan underwent major shifts in defense and security policy under successive LDP prime ministers, while also navigating economic challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
