Myanmar to pardon 814 prisoners in amnesty

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's junta said on Saturday (Feb 12) it would release more than 800 prisoners in an amnesty to mark the country's Union Day.

According to a "pardon order in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee Union Day", which falls every Feb 12, 814 prisoners will be released, the statement by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said.

Those given amnesty will be mostly from prisons in the commercial hub Yangon, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP. He did not say whether detained Australian academic Sean Turnell would be among those released.

Dr Turnell, an Australian economics professor, was working as an adviser to ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he was arrested last February, just days after a military coup.

He has been charged with violating Myanmar's official secrets law and faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison if found guilty.

The junta released about 23,000 prisoners on Union Day last year, with some rights groups at the time fearing the move was to free up space for opponents of the military and cause chaos in communities.

A similar number were released on last year’s Union Day as well.

On Saturday, the junta marked Union Day with a show of force in the military-built capital Naypyidaw, known for its broad and often empty thoroughfares.

Hundreds of troops paraded alongside civil servants waving national flags in unison and troupes performed choreographed dances.

Helicopters carrying the country’s yellow, green and red flag flew overhead, followed by jets trailing the same colours in smoke.

Independent Myanmar analyst David Mathieson characterised the parade as “performance art”.

“The message for Union Day is at complete odds with the reality that is Myanmar,” he told AFP, adding the junta was not sincere about peace.

“It’s pretty absurd that on the 75th anniversary of Union Day the country is more divided than at any point in its history.”

The coup on Feb 1, 2021, triggered mass protests and a bloody military crackdown, with more than 1,500 civilians killed and nearly 12,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group.

In a speech to troops, General Min Aung Hlaing repeated the military’s claim of massive fraud in 2020 elections won by Ms Suu Kyi’s party.

He also invited the myriad ethnic armed organisations that have been fighting Myanmar’s military – and each other – for decades to sit for peace talks.

In an announcement carried by state media, he said the junta would also halt ongoing criminal proceedings against members of Rakhine state’s Arakan Army, which for years has fought a war for autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine population.

Struggling to contain the backlash and contending with daily clashes, swathes of the country are under the control of anti-coup fighters.

An anti-junta group told local media it was behind an explosion in Naypyidaw hours before Union Day celebrations were due to start. AFP was unable to confirm the reports.