Oct 19,2021:Hundreds of political prisoners have been freed from Myanmar’s Insein prison, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s party spokesman and a famous comedian, according to local media.
The prisoners walked free after state television announced an amnesty in conjunction with the Thadingyut festival for more than 5,600 people on Monday night.
The announcement came shortly after a televised address by Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief who seized power in a coup in February plunging the country into political turmoil and prompted many people to rush to the jail in Yangon in the hope that their loved ones would be among those released.
Factory worker Kyi Kyi was one of the dozens of people waiting outside the prison early on Tuesday, hoping to see her husband, who was arrested in February.
The amnesty followed an announcement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that Min Aung Hlaing would not be invited to their summit later this month because the military had made “insufficient progress” in complying with a five-point consensus that was agreed jointly in April.
Under the plan, the military was supposed to end violence against those opposed to its coup and allow a special ASEAN envoy to visit the country and meet all parties. Myanmar has been a member of ASEAN since 1997.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a rights group that has been tracking the military’s response to the protests that broke out as a result of the coup, says more than 9,000 people have been jailed and more than 1,000 killed.
It was sceptical about the prisoner release which it described as a “form of distraction”. The military held previous amnesties in April and June.
“The junta will continue to refuse being transparent about the individual persons released, and who remains detained,” the group said in a statement.
Monywa Aung Shin, a spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party was among those released.
