Relatives of hundreds of detainees gathered outside Myanmar’s Insein Jail on Sunday after the military government announced the release of 1,600 New Year’s detainees on a New Year’s Eve holiday in the Southeast Asian country, according to Reuters.
The number of detainees released under the annual amnesty was much lower than last year at 23,000, and it was unclear whether they would include imprisoned members of the government that was overthrown in a coup on February 1, 2021.
Lt. Gen. Aung Lin Dwe, the junta’s deputy minister, signed a statement announcing that “1,619 detainees, including 42 foreign nationals, will be released under amnesty as part of Myanmar’s New Year celebrations, to give joy to the people and to address humanitarian concerns “.
The army has arrested at least 13,282 people and killed 1,756 opponents since the coup, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP).
Among those arrested are the leader of the ousted government, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being held in the capital Naipaitou, and her Australian economic adviser, Sean Turnel, who is based at Insein’s compound on the outskirts of Yangon.
“The junta is using political prisoners as hostages,” an AAPP spokesman told Reuters on Sunday. A spokesman for the junta, which has challenged AAPP figures, did not respond to a request for comment.
Standing near police officers on Sunday, nervous-looking families held placards with the names of their loved ones, said a local journalist, who asked not to be named for security reasons.
The mother of a 22-year-old protester who was arrested eight months ago told reporters she was waiting outside Insein after her son wrote that he could be released with the April amnesty.
Another mother, whose son was arrested in June for participating in the anti-junta political disobedience movement, said she waited outside prison several times during previous amnesty periods.
“I have a feeling he will be released today,” he added, asking not to be named for fear of retaliation, the journalist said.
Source: Capital
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