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| Southeast Asia |
| Myanmar frees 56 political prisoners |
| 2013-10-09 |
[Dawn] Myanmar on Tuesday began freeing dozens of its remaining tossed in the slammerPlease don't kill me! activists, officials said, after the country vowed to release all prisoners of conscience by the end of the year. "Our government will release 56 political prisoners," presidential adviser Hla Maung Shwe told AFP, in comments confirmed by correctional department officials. Setting free dissidents detained arbitrarily under the former junta has been a cornerstone of reforms by a new quasi-civilian regime and has been warmly welcomed by the international community with the scrapping of most western sanctions. Hundreds of political detainees have been freed since President Thein Sein took power in March 2011. But activists say authorities are continuing to prosecute dissidents and scores remain behind bars. They accuse the government of using the headline-grabbing releases for political gain and leverage with the international community. Thein Sein, who travelled on Tuesday to a meeting of regional powers in Brunei, announced there would be "no prisoners of conscience in Myanmar" by the end of the year during his first visit to London in July. Numbers for political prisoners held in Myanmar vary, but Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party said there were around 140 activists held before Tuesday's announcement. Thet Oo, from the ex-detainees group Former Political Prisoners, told AFP that he could confirm that some of the 56 had already been set free, adding that his organization estimates that around 50 new activists have been held by the current regime. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 I wonder what their filtering criteria is? My guess: you're not a Shan or Karen or Kachin, you've never said anything nice about a Shan or Karen or Kachin... etc. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2013-10-09 19:44 |