No Arakan State prisoners among junta pardons of over 2,100 inmates

By Admin 04 May 2023

DMG Newsroom
4 May 2023, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime on Wednesday pardoned 2,153 prisoners serving sentences under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, but reportedly no prisoners behind bars in Arakan State were released in the mass amnesty.

“Those sentenced under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code should truly be released. Releasing only some prisoners is a discriminatory act. I think prisoners in Arakan State should also be released. All prisoners should be entitled to benefits,” said U Pe Than, a veteran Arakanese politician.

A total of 2,153 prisoners — 14 in Kachin State; 101 in Kayah (Karenni) State; nine in Kayin (Karen) State; 26 in Mon State; 65 in Shan State; 339 in Yangon Region; 47 in Sagaing Region; 49 in Tanintharyi Region; 450 in Bago Region; 94 in Magway Region; 911 in Mandalay Region; and 48 in Ayeyarwady Region — were released on May 3, according to junta officials.

The prisoners were released on the condition that if they commit a crime again, they will continue to serve the remaining punishment in addition to the new punishment, according to Section 401 subsection (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

“I feel that it is unreasonable not to release those imprisoned in Arakan State after the junta pardoned those imprisoned under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code nationwide,” said a family member of Ko Tin Tun Aung, who is incarcerated in Sittwe Prison.

The Paletwa Township Court sentenced Ko Tin Tun Aung to three years in prison with hard labour on April 5 after he told the Arakan State-based media outlet Western News that a white flag had been seen flying over a hill where a military battalion was stationed in Paletwa Township.

Family members said they had hoped that some of the prisoners in Arakan State would be released in the military regime’s granting of a mass amnesty to mark the Buddhist holiday honouring the Full Moon Day of Kason.

“We all were happy with the news that he would be released in an amnesty,” said Ma Aye Sandar Kyaw, the wife of Ko Hla Saw, who is imprisoned in Sittwe Prison. “An official from Sittwe Prison phoned me yesterday that no inmate was among the prisoners released by the junta’s amnesty. He made a living as a mason and I feel disappointed for him.”

Ko Saw Hla was arrested by the Myanmar military on October 14, 2022, and the Paletwa Township Court sentenced him to three years in prison under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code.

“My father is not in good health because he has high blood pressure. Yesterday, family members had hope that he would be released from prison, but we were saddened because he was not among the prisoners released by the junta in an amnesty to mark the Buddhist holiday,” said the daughter of U Maung Mel Kyawt, a 57-year-old man from Chin State’s Paletwa currently imprisoned at Sittwe Prison.

The regime has granted mass amnesties to prisoners 12 times in the more than two years since its coup. This most recent time coincided with the arrival of the Chinese foreign minister in Myanmar.