Sawt Falasteen - Myanmar junta frees hundreds of prisoners in annual amnesty

The military grabbed power in a 2021 coup that triggered civil war, pitting pro-democracy rebels against junta forces, with thousands of activists since arrested.

A dozen buses full of released prisoners exited Yangon's Insein prison on Sunday morning, with some waving to crowds of well-wishers, AFP journalists saw.

Family members outside the prison held up signs with the names of their jailed loved ones, unsure if they would be among those freed.

One man said he was hoping to see his father, who was jailed for "doing politics".

"His sentence is about to end. I hope he will be released as soon as possible," said the man, who declined to be named due to security concerns.

In total, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing pardoned 6,134 imprisoned Myanmar nationals, the National Defence and Security Council said, adding 52 foreign prisoners would also be released and deported.

The yearly prisoner amnesty that the junta said was "on humanitarian and compassionate grounds" was announced as the country marks 78 years of independence from British colonial rule.

Several freed men and women embraced relatives in tears outside Insein, which is notorious for alleged brutal rights abuses.

Some who spoke to AFP said they had been arrested for drugs, theft and other non-political crimes.

"I am very happy to reunite with my family," said 35-year-old Yazar Tun, as he held one of his three children outside Insein.

He said he served around eight months of a year-long sentence for loitering.

Prominent model and former doctor Nang Mwe San was also among those released, an AFP journalist saw.

She was arrested in 2022 on a charge of "harming culture and dignity" for posting allegedly explicit videos online.

- Decisive lead -

Myanmar's junta opened voting in a phased month-long election a week ago, with its leaders pledging the poll would bring on democracy and national reconciliation.

However, rights advocates and Western diplomats have condemned it as a sham and a rebranding of martial rule.

The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has a decisive lead in the first phase, winning 90 percent of the lower house seats announced so far, according to official results published in state media on Saturday and Sunday.

Many analysts describe the USDP as a civilian proxy of the military.

Two more phases of voting are scheduled for January 11 and 25.

The massively popular but dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) of democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi did not appear on ballots, and she has been jailed since the coup.

The military overturned the results of the last poll in 2020 after the NLD defeated the USDP by a landslide.

The military and USDP then alleged massive voter fraud, claims that international monitors say were unfounded.

The junta has said turnout in the first phase last month exceeded 50 percent of eligible voters, below the 2020 participation rate of around 70 percent.

Myanmar frequently grants amnesty to thousands of prisoners to commemorate holidays or Buddhist festivals.

The junta announced the release of more than 9,000 prisoners to mark independence day in 2024, and nearly 6,000 for the same occasion last year.

A key aide to Suu Kyi was among hundreds of prisoners freed in a pre-election amnesty in November.

The junta said that month it was dropping sentences for more than 3,000 prisoners, after they were prosecuted under post-coup legislation restricting free speech.

A.AbuSaada--SF-PST