Myanmar Military Releases More Than 23,000 Prisoners

OVERVIEW 

Myanmar on Friday released about 23,000 prisoners opposing Myanmar’s military coup against the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing united people to ‘join hands’ with the military for democracy.

DETAILS 

About 23,314 prisoners were to be granted amnesty on Union Day, a national public holiday for the unification of the country, when the supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi refused to obey the military order to halt gatherings and protests by the seventh day.

The military claims to have taken control over the country due to widespread ‘voting irregularities’ in the November 2020 election, giving the overthrown leader of the National League of Democracy Party a consecutive landslide victory.

The protestors took over the streets in Naypyitaw, Mandalay, and few other towns, holding signs of ‘Stop Kidnapping at Night’ among them.

The United Nations human rights office on Friday reported about 350 people, including officials, activists and monks since February 1 coup who are facing criminal charges on ‘dubious grounds.’

CONCLUSION

The protests so far have been the biggest in any Southeast Asian country in support of the 75-year-old leader who spent about 15 years of house arrest under the previous military governments. The generals had promised to stick to the 2008 Constitution, but said they would ‘work for the emergence of a constitution that is in alignment and harmony with the Democratic Federal Union’ on Friday.

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