Myanmar’s ruling military junta said on Tuesday it had granted a partial pardon to the country’s former democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained on charges widely believed to be politically motivated since February 2021, when the army took over power with a coup. Basically, not much will change for Aung San Suu Kyi, who is 78 years old and had accumulated sentences up to a sentence of 33 years in prison, from which 6 will now be removed: she was pardoned for cinque of the 19 crimes she was convicted of. Many countries around the world, especially in the West, have been calling for her immediate release since she was arrested. The military junta said the partial pardon of Aung San Suu Kyi is part of a broader amnesty in which 7,000 people across the country will be released from prison.
Since carrying out the coup in Myanmar, the military junta has arrested thousands of people, mainly in the context of large protests that arose following the coup. Since then, a violent civil conflict has broken out in the country and at least 4,000 people have died. Also on Tuesday, the junta announced an extension of the state of emergency and the postponement of the elections scheduled for August, on a new date that has not been communicated.