Sources told DVB that journalists Sithu Aung Myint and Htet Htet Khine, who worked for BBC Media Action, and pro-democracy singer Thanthar Win, were released from prison on Nov. 30 in a regime amnesty that included 3,085 other political prisoners.
Thaik Tun Oo, the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM) spokesperson, told DVB that prison authorities released inmates, who were either convicted or detained on allegations of violating Section 505-A of the Penal Code, with only a few days remaining on their sentences.
Sithu Aung Myint was arrested in Bahan Township, Yangon Region, in August 2021 and convicted of violating Section 505-A, which criminalizes spreading “fake news” and “incitement” against the military, as well as Section 124(a) for “causing contempt against the nation.” He was sentenced to five years at Yangon’s Insein Prison.
Htet Htet Khine was arrested along with Sithu Aung Myint and sentenced to six years under Section 505-A and Section 17/1 of the Unlawful Associations Act. She was released from Thayawaddy Prison in Bago Region.
Pop singer Thanthar Win was arrested in late 2023 and charged under Section 505-A and Section 50(j) of Counter-Terrorism Law, according to close friends. She was convicted and sentenced to three years at Insein Prison.
A total of 724 political prisoners have been released from the 3,085 granted an amnesty by the regime on Nov. 27, with the remaining 2,361 reportedly serving sentences for additional charges, according to DVB data.
DVB has documented that out of the total 106,810 prisoners released in regime amnesties since Feb. 12, 2021, only 8,882 of them were political prisoners. The Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP-Myanmar) stated that only 13 percent of those released in 18 regime prisoner amnesties have been political prisoners.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has documented that 30,057 people have been arrested for political reasons since the 2021 coup with 22,693 still held in detention.
