Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told media on Saturday that it had granted an amnesty to 600 prisoners who were jailed for causing incitement and spreading false news against the military under Sec. 505 (A) of Myanmar’s Penal Code. The pardon included the Kachin State Chief Minister Khet Aung, who was ousted from his position and jailed after the 2021 coup. 

“Political prisoners from some prisons are not included in the amnesty. We confirmed the release of around 150 political prisoners as of Jan. 4. It is not difficult to trust what the regime said, so we are trying our best to get a detailed number and make sure whether what they said is correct,” Thaik Tun Oo, the spokesperson for the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM), told DVB.  

The regime announced it had freed 6,044 prisoners to commemorate Myanmar’s 77th Independence Day. Among those released were 19 female political prisoners, who had been jailed for participating in a “Flower Strike” to commemorate jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthdays over the last 2-3 years by wearing flowers and sharing images to social media to protest the regime’s detention and treatment of Myanmar’s 79-year-old National League for Democracy (NLD) leader. 

Aung San Suu Kyi has been held incommunicado by the regime in Naypyidaw since she was arrested during the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. She was later sentenced to 33 years in prison, but had it reduced to 27 years under a “partial pardon,” according to the regime.

Myanmar actress and model Thinzar Wint Kyaw, who was sentenced to five years in prison for violating the Electronic Transactions Law on Dec. 23, 2022, was seen leaving prison on Jan. 4.

Medical doctor turned model Nang Mwe San – sentenced to six years for violating the same law – was reportedly freed. But DVB has been unable to verify. Both women were reportedly freed by the regime in last year’s Independence Day amnesty.

A source from the military told DVB on the condition of anonymity that nearly 200 prisoners who had been sentenced for desertion were included in the amnesty. 

“Although [military personnel] were jailed for their crimes, they were pardoned to [return to] the army because of their previous experiences,” added the source. 

Another source close to the military told DVB that 50 soldiers were included among the more than 1,000 prisoners released from Insein prison. 

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) states that 28,096 civilians have been arrested across the country, since the 2021 coup, and 21,499 political prisoners are still being held by the regime in prisons nationwide.