More than 7,000 of those released had been sentenced in recent years under a controversial anti-terrorism law.Image: keystone
Mar 2, 2026, 10:28Mar 2, 2026, 10:28
As part of a new mass amnesty, the military junta in Myanmar has ordered the release of more than 10,000 prisoners, including ten foreigners.
In addition, the proceedings against around 12,400 defendants are to be discontinued, as state television reported. Many of them went into hiding for fear of being arrested and live underground.
More than 7,000 of those released had been sentenced in recent years under a controversial anti-terrorism law. This is used arbitrarily by the judiciary, mostly to silence pro-democracy groups.
Holiday as an occasion for amnesty
The junta has been ruling the crisis country with an iron fist since a coup at the beginning of 2021. Resistance is suppressed with brutal force – often through imprisonment. Ex-head of government Aung San Suu Kyi (80), who was disempowered and sentenced to a long prison sentence, remains in prison.
The reason for the amnesty is “Peasants’ Day” – a public holiday with which the former Burma honors the crucial role of agriculture in the economy. In recent years, the junta has released thousands of prisoners on several occasions to mark important holidays. Numerous relatives had been waiting in front of the prisons since morning.
Human rights activists are skeptical
A controversial parliamentary election was held in Myanmar at the beginning of the year. According to official information, the military-backed and virtually unrivaled “Union Solidarity and Development Party” (USDP) emerged as the winner, as expected. International observers and human rights organizations had already criticized the vote in advance as a “farce”. They emphasized that the election only served to seemingly legitimize the power of the generals under their boss Min Aung Hlaing.
A political analyst who wished to remain anonymous told the German Press Agency (dpa) that the amnesty came as no surprise: “I believe the releases are aimed at winning the recognition of foreign governments by signaling political concessions and a willingness to relax before the next political phase,” she commented. (sda/dpa)