Myanmar to release 5,000 prisoners held over coup

YANGON (AFP), 18 O C T, 2021- Myanmar will release more than 5,000 people jailed for protesting against a February coup which ousted the civilian government, the country’s junta chief said Monday. A total of 5,636 prisoners will be freed to mark the Thadingyut festival later in October, Min Aung Hlaing said, days after he was excluded from a regional summit over his government’s commitment to defusing the bloody crisis.

Myanmar has been mired in chaos since the coup, with more than 1,100 civilians killed in a bloody crackdown on dissent and more than 8,000 arrested according to a local monitoring group.

More than 7,300 are currently behind bars across the country, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Myanmar authorities released more than 2,000 anti-coup protesters from prisons across the country in July, including journalists critical of the military government.