The authorities in Myanmar will release 23,184 prisoners from prisons across the country today, granting them amnesty on New Year’s Eve, said a spokesman for the ministry in charge of the penitentiary system, although among them are expected to be few – perhaps none – of pro-democracy activists arrested after the February 1 coup.
Saturday is the first day of the traditional New Year in Myanmar and the last day of the five-day holiday which is usually celebrated with visits to Buddhist temples and street parties.
Pro-democracy activists called for the celebrations to be canceled this year and for people to focus on the campaign to restore democracy after the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi-elected government.
Suu Kyi is among 3,141 people arrested in connection with the coup, according to a report by the Association for the Aid of Political Prisoners (AAPP).
“These detainees are mainly from the period before February 1, but there are some who were imprisoned afterwards,” Kiao Tun Oo, a spokesman for the ministry in charge of the penitentiary system, told Reuters by telephone.
Asked if any of those released would be arrested for protesting against the military junta, the spokesman said he had no details on the amnesties to be granted.
While the army is releasing tens of thousands of detainees, it is pursuing at least 832 people under arrest warrants linked to protests, the AAPP reported.
Among them are 200 people, including several Internet celebrities, actors and singers, who have spoken out against the military coup and are wanted on charges of encouraging dissidents in the armed forces.
People, outraged by the return of the military junta, took to the streets day by day demanding the restoration of democracy, defying the crackdown on security forces in which 728 people were killed, according to the latest AAPP figures.
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