Myanmar grants amnesty to 101 prisoners before government change

Around a hundred prisoners will be freed in Myanmar after being granted amnesty by President Thein Sein Friday, days before a new government is formed following elections in November, activists reported.

Out of the 101 who were pardoned by the President, at least 39 were political prisoners, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, or AAPP.

New Zealand’s Phil Blackwood, one of the prisoners, was detained in December 2014 and sentenced to two and a half years in prison for using an image of Buddha to promote his restaurant in Yangon, AAPP confirmed.

However, the Association was unable to confirm whether his two Burmese associates too were granted pardon.

Hundreds of inmates have benefited from pardons by the outgoing president, who in 2013 had announced the release of all political prisoners.

AAPP Joint Secretary Bo Kyi told EFE over the telephone that all the prisoners had not been freed yet and claimed persecution of the opposition and dissidents are continuing.

According to Bo Kyi, there are still another 100 political prisoners in Burmese prisons, while another 400 are pending trial, of which 139 are in provisional detention.

The latest amnesty comes days before the formation of the new parliament on Feb. 1, in which the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, with a substantive majority will elect a new president.

Myanmar’s constitution, drawn up by the last junta, prevents Suu Kyi from becoming the head of state and grants veto powers to the military in the legislature, besides control over key ministries.