No Arakan State political prisoners among junta pardons of over 7,000 inmates in Independence Day amnesty

04 Jan 2023

DMG Newsroom
4 January 2023, Sittwe

No political prisoners behind bars in Arakan State were released in the military regime’s granting of a mass amnesty to mark Myanmar’s 75^th Independence Day anniversary on Wednesday.

A total of 308 prisoners — 48 from Sittwe Prison, 24 from Kyaukphyu Prison, 206 from Thandwe Prison, and 30 from Buthidaung Prison — were released on January 4, according to prison authorities of Arakan State.

“I am happy that the prisoners were released. I’m glad for the others,” said Daw Khaing Thazin, the wife of one of the prisoners released from Sittwe Prison.

The military regime’s granting of a mass amnesty has been criticised for not including those arrested on suspicion of being linked to the Arakan Army (AA) and those imprisoned for other political charges.

“More than 200 prisoners were freed from Thandwe Prison, but political prisoners were not among them. Those released were convicted of theft. I think the military council released the prisoners as a show. Those who were charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act should have been released in the amnesty,” said a Thandwe town elder.

Several people have been sentenced to prison under the Counter-Terrorism Law for being associated with the Arakan Army during fighting between the Myanmar military and the ethnic armed group that started in Arakan State in late 2018.

Following the coup in February 2021, the military removed the AA from its official list of terrorist organisations, and granted pardons for some of those charged over their alleged ties to the AA. But cases remain unresolved, and family members involved in those cases continue to wait in the wake of the military regime’s latest granting of a mass amnesty.

“I came here hoping that my younger brother would be among those who were freed in the military regime’s amnesty today, but actually he was not freed,” said Ma Nan Soe, an elder sister of the author Ko Min Di Par from Pan Maw village in Mrauk-U Township, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison under the Counter-Terrorism Law.

At least 46 people were arrested on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army and charged under the Unlawful Associations Act and/or incitement under Sections 505(a) and (b) of the Penal Code during some four months of heightened military tensions and conflict last year between the military and AA in Arakan State, according to a DMG tally.

“We’d hoped that those charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act and Section 505(a) of the Penal Code would be released in the military regime’s granting of a mass amnesty to mark the 75th anniversary of Independence Day,” said U Myat Tun, director of the Arakan Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Association (AHRDPA). “None of those released [in Arakan State] were political prisoners. It didn’t happen like this, and it turned out to be pretty bad.”

Myanmar’s military regime released 7,012 prisoners under an amnesty to mark the 75th anniversary of the nation’s independence, junta-run broadcaster MRTV reported on Wednesday.

The 7,012 prisoners were released on the condition that if they commit the crime again, they will continue to serve the remaining punishment in addition to the current punishment, according to Section 401 Subsection (1) of the Criminal Procedure Law.