Myanmar military junta grants amnesty to more than 10.000 prisoners, but not to former leader

Myanmar's military junta has granted amnesty to more than 10.000 prisoners, while others have had their sentences commuted to mark a national holiday, local media reported today.

There is no indication that former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a military coup in 2021 and has been in virtual isolation since then, will be among those released.

The amnesty comes two weeks before parliament is due to meet for its first session in more than five years, following recent elections that critics said were neither free nor fair.

State-run MRTV reported that Supreme Commander and head of the military government, Min Aung Hlaing, pardoned 10.162 prisoners, including 7.337 convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act, on the occasion of Peasants' Day - a national holiday dedicated to farmers.

This law also provides for the possibility of imposing the death penalty, and since the military takeover in 2021, it has been widely used to arrest and imprison political opponents, journalists, and other critics of the government.