Hundreds of political prisoners have been released in Myanmar following an amnesty

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Families were reunited in joyful scenes, but experts warn the international community must maintain pressure on the coup leaders.

 

According to local media, hundreds of political prisoners have been released from Myanmar's Insein prison, including Aung San Suu Kyi's party spokesman and a well-known comedian.

The inmates were released after state television proclaimed an amnesty for over 5,600 persons in conjunction with the Thadingyut celebration on Monday night.

 

The news came immediately after a televised statement by Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief who took power in a coup in February, throwing the country into political chaos and prompting many families to hurry to Yangon's jail in the hopes that their loved ones would be released.

Kyi Kyi, a factory worker, was one of scores of people who waited outside the prison early on Tuesday in the hopes of seeing her husband, who was arrested in February.

 

She told the AFP news agency, "I also came here yesterday."
"He was not allowed to leave.
I'm hoping he'll be today."

Nwet Nwet San expressed his hope that his son, a soldier who had eluded the army, would be released.

He said, "He's been in prison for eight months."

"From what I've heard, the majority of demonstrators will be released.
Other criminals, I've heard, will be released as well.
That's why I'm holding my breath."

 

The amnesty came after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced that Min Aung Hlaing would not be invited to their summit later this month because the military had made "insufficient progress" in implementing a five-point agreement reached in April.

The military was meant to stop using violence against individuals who opposed the coup and enable a special ASEAN envoy to enter the nation and speak with all parties under the plan.
Myanmar has been an ASEAN member since 1997.

 

More than 9,000 people have been jailed and more than 1,000 have been killed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a rights group that has been documenting the military's response to the protests that erupted as a result of the coup.

It was sceptical of the prisoner release, which it referred to as a "distraction."
Previous amnesties were held in April and June by the military.

 

"The junta will refuse to be truthful about who has been released and who has been jailed," the group stated in a statement.

 

Among those released was Monywa Aung Shin, a spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

He told the Democratic Voice of Burma late Monday on his way home from prison, "They came to me today and said they will take me home, that's it."

Monywa Aung Shin had been in prison for eight months when he was captured on February 1.