In Myanmar, over 5,000 political prisoners will be released in the next few hours. These are the protesters imprisoned last February, accused of having participated in the protests against the coup that had deposed the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The announcement was made by the head of the military junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, who assured that the 5,636 prisoners would return to freedom before the Thadingyut light festival on Tuesday. Specifically, the release of 1,316 people and the filing of the cases of 4,320 others, who were facing legal action for their anti-regime activism, are expected.
BREAKING: Myanmar’s military regime on Monday released 1,316 people jailed for their participation in anti-regime protests while dismissing the cases of 4,320 people who were facing lawsuits for their anti-regime activism. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/5viRz18jRH
— The Irrawaddy (Eng) (@IrrawaddyNews) October 18, 2021
The impression is that this is a gesture of clemency aimed at appeasing the international community, which in recent days had communicated the exclusion of General Hlaing from the next summit of Asean, the Association of Southeast Asian Countries. Instead, the Association had announced that it would invite a “non-political” representative of Myanmar, causing anger in the junta that governs the capital.
After a special meeting convened on Friday, the association had in fact found that there had been “insufficient progress” by the state to justify the invitation to the summit this month. In fact, last April, Asean had drawn up a five-point list on the crisis in Myanmar, calling for “the immediate cessation of violence” and inviting all parts of the country to exercise “maximum restraint”. As part of the agreed measures, the army was then supposed to allow a special envoy of the Association to visit the country to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since February 1. Last week, however, the military made it known that the meeting could not take place, while the fighting continued to flare up, especially in border areas such as the northwestern state of Chin.
Burmese army chief Hlaing expressed his disappointment at the exclusion to local televisions on Monday, stating that the military’s intention in February was to restore order and restore peace to a country plunged into chaos.