Myanmar yesterday began releasing more than 8,000 prisoners on humanitarian grounds under a presidential pardon, with most of those being released convicted of drug offenses, but with 36 people classified as political prisoners among them.
The pardon, signed by newly elected Burmese President Win Myint, coincides with Myanmar’s traditional new year celebrations and was aimed at promoting peace and the joy of the people, his office said in a statement.
“To bring peace and pleasure to people’s heart, and for the sake of humanitarian support, 8,490 prisoners from respective prisons will be pardoned,” the Presidential Office said.
Photo: Reuters
Dozens of prisoners were set free later yesterday from Insein prison in Yangon, greeted at the gates of the colonial-era jail by scores of relatives and friends.
“I’m happy for this amnesty, but I’m sorry for the other prisoners left behind,” said Saw Wah Lay, a member of a political party affiliated with an ethnic Karen insurgent group, the Karen National Liberation Army.
He said he had spent 13 years in Insein jail after being sentenced to death and a 95-year prison term for murder and other charges.
“I hope they will be released soon because some of them are facing unfair charges without having done anything wrong,” he said.
Two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were not included in the amnesty, Myanmar Prisons Department spokesman Min Tun Soe said, citing ongoing legal proceedings.
One of the journalists’ lawyers, Khin Maung Zaw, said his understanding was that the president was only pardoning convicted criminals.
A court in Yangon has been holding preliminary hearings since January to decide whether the pair are to be charged under the colonial-era Officials Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
Burmese State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has made ending years of war between government forces and ethnic minority insurgents her top priority, but the releases announced yesterday did not appear to include a significant number of people convicted for links to insurgencies.
More than 6,000 of those being released were sentenced on drug charges, government spokesman Zaw Htay said on his Facebook page.
He did not identify any of those being released, but said nearly 2,000 were members of the military and police, jailed under the Military Act or Police Disciplinary Act. He did not elaborate.
Zaw Htay also said 36 prisoners on a list issued by the human rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) were included in the amnesty.
Hundreds of political prisoners have been released from Myanmar’s jails in amnesties in recent years, including dozens freed in April 2016, days after Aung San Suu Kyi’s party took power following nearly 50 years of strict military rule.
Before yesterday’s pardon, there were 240 political activists jailed or awaiting trial in Myanmar, the AAPP said.
“This amnesty is very good news and we welcome and support it,” said Aung Myo Kyaw, a representative of the group.
“But there should not be a single political prisoner in a democratic country,” he added.
Additional reporting by AP
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)