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| Southeast Asia |
| Myanmar frees 23 political prisoners in amnesty |
| 2012-07-04 |
| YANGON: Myanmar’s president has freed 46 people in a general amnesty, state media reported yesterday, and 23 of them were political prisoners, according to a pro-democracy activist. In addition to the 46 Myanmar nationals, authorities freed 34 foreigners under the amnesty, state media said. Human rights activist Ko Ko Gyi, who was himself only released in January, told Reuters that 23 political prisoners were freed, among them Than Zaw, a former youth member of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. “We are still trying to contact those released from other prisons. We met the ones freed from Insein Prison (on the outskirts on Yangon) at our office today and gave them words of encouragement and necessary assistance,” Ko Ko Gyi told Reuters. Under President Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government, which took office in March last year, more than 650 political prisoners were freed between May last year and January. Than Zaw had been in prison since 1989. He was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 20 years for a bombing that another man had confessed to, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Another prominent political prisoner freed under the amnesty was Ko Aye Aung, serving a 59-year sentence. The number of political prisoners still being held in Myanmar remains subject to dispute and the government has said the delay in releasing them is to distinguish between activists and what it calls terrorists or common criminals. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Myanmar. Such a pretty name. Maybe they can use it for the US when they're finished turning it into the country they really want. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2012-07-04 10:19 |
| #1 just don't call it "Burma", or back in the slammer |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-07-04 10:14 |