Myanmar junta releases more than 9,600 prisoners

DPA
·2 min read
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People wait outside Insein Prison in Yangon for the release of relatives. As part of a new mass amnesty, the military junta in Myanmar has announced the release of around 9600 prisoners, including 114 foreigners. Yu Yu Lin/dpa
People wait outside Insein Prison in Yangon for the release of relatives. As part of a new mass amnesty, the military junta in Myanmar has announced the release of around 9600 prisoners, including 114 foreigners. Yu Yu Lin/dpa

Myanmar's junta granted amnesty to more than 9,652 prisoners on Thursday, according to a statement from the military-backed broadcasting channel.

The prisoner release took place on the 76th anniversary of its independence from the United Kingdom.

About 114 foreign prisoners were included in the amnesty, according to statement from the military. It said they were released to maintain friendly relations with other countries.

But details of these prisoners remained unknown.

Moreover, details of the political prisoners released are also unknown. Their family members were waiting in front of the Insein Prison, the most notorious prison in the country.

"More than 20 buses have already entered the prison. More than 700 people are waiting in front of the prison as they heard the amnesty news," a family member told dpa.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an aid organization in Myanmar, the military has detained more than 25,730 people in the past two years, with nearly 20,000 still in detention. At least 4,277 were killed by the junta.

A bus drives onto the grounds of Insein Prison in Yangon to bring out released prisoners. As part of a new mass amnesty, the military junta in Myanmar has announced the release of around 9600 prisoners, including 114 foreigners. Yu Yu Lin/dpa
A bus drives onto the grounds of Insein Prison in Yangon to bring out released prisoners. As part of a new mass amnesty, the military junta in Myanmar has announced the release of around 9600 prisoners, including 114 foreigners. Yu Yu Lin/dpa
People wait outside Insein Prison in Yangon for the release of relatives. As part of a new mass amnesty, the military junta in Myanmar has announced the release of around 9600 prisoners, including 114 foreigners. Yu Yu Lin/dpa
People wait outside Insein Prison in Yangon for the release of relatives. As part of a new mass amnesty, the military junta in Myanmar has announced the release of around 9600 prisoners, including 114 foreigners. Yu Yu Lin/dpa