Amnesty is expected to be handed over to some 23,314 prisoners and released on Union Day, a national public holiday that watches the unification of the country, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said in a statement. It is not clear what crimes the prisoners were convicted of.
While a large prison release is common on national holidays in Myanmar, this is the first such amnesty since the new junta, which seized power in a cup on Feb. 1, says Aung San Suu Kyi leader, democratically elected and retains top government officials.
The rational army took control of the country by leading widespread voting anomalies in the November 2020 election, which gave Suu Kyi a second landslide impact on the National League of Democracy (NLD).
In a statement Friday, the Association for the Support of Political Prisoners (AAPP) expressed “deep concern” that the amnesty was “clearing a place to hold political prisoners.”
In addition to their release, their sentences will be given to prisoners serving sentences for crimes committed before January 31, 2021, for any crime, according to the military statement.
In his speech, Min Aung Hlaing said prisoner amnesty was part of an effort to “build a democratically themed country.”
There is no indication that Suu Kyi or other government ministers or officials detained in the cup will be released as part of the amnesty. And amnesty does not seem to be likely to infuriate protesters towards the armed generals.
Campaigning and civil disobedience protests continued in towns and cities across the country on Friday. Videos and live streams posted online showed several groups marching in the largest city of Yangon, including medical staff and football fans.
Large gatherings are expected at the US, Chinese and British embassies in Yangon.
So far the rallies have been largely peaceful but the police were recorded using a water cannon against protesters. Police have also challenged allegations that they used live tours.
A young woman named Mya Thweh Thweh Khine is still in a critical condition Friday morning at a hospital in the capital Naypyidaw with a gunshot wound to the head, a source with direct information about the victim told CNN.
Video of the incident circulated online showed a young woman suddenly falling to the ground as she took cover from a water cannon at a protest.
Experts at the rights group Amnesty International Lab Cridence Evidence Lab said images were approaching a protest in Naypyidaw on Feb. 9, showing a police officer holding a local version of a Uzi submarine gun.
The rights group said the images were taken from a location near the Thabyegone roundabout, across the road from which the young woman was shot in the head.
Amnesty said it has confirmed the coordinates of the image showing an officer holding a “clone BA-94 or BA-93 Uzi made by Myanmar.” CNN could not. independent verification of the image.
The decisions run counter to military claims that lethal weapons were not used at protests, Amnesty said.
Myanmar’s army posted on its Facebook page on February 10 that they had only used anti-riot weapons at the protest near the Thabyegone roundabout and were investigating reports that two protesters had been injured.
Sam Dubberley, Head of Amnesty International ‘s Emergency Evidence Laboratory, said in a press release, “The serious injuries sustained by this young woman were caused by Myanmar police firing live bullets directly at peaceful protesters.”
Since then Mya Thweh Thweh Khine has been the image of the protesters, with demonstrators holding pictures of her image as they march.
On Thursday, Min Aung Hlaing issued a warning to protesters, which included a large cross-section of society including monks and a growing number of settlers. public employment, urging them to return to work.
“Those who are away from their duties are urged to return to their duties immediately for the interests of the country and people without focusing on the sentiment,” he said.
Min Aung Hlaing recently blamed the absence of government workers for being harassed by “rude people,” in a statement issued by the ruling army’s official intelligence service.
In response to the ongoing protests, the country’s military has sought to restrict access to the Internet and news services, as well as launching a potential cyber security law that intimidates terrorists. -look further restricts the flow of information.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would move forward with sanctions against Myanmar military leaders following last week’s coup.
In brief remarks, the President said he had agreed a new order of action that would allow the U.S. to “immediately allow the military leaders who led the coup, their business interests as well as close family members . ” He said they would identify targets of those sanctions this week.
Biden also called on the armed junta to release detained protesters and civilian leaders, including Suu Kyi and Win Myint and stop their crackdown on demonstrators.
Helen Regan from CNN reported.