Myanmar junta releases over 800 prisoners on Union Day

The military government of Myanmar announced pardon for more than 800 prisoners on the occasion of the country’s 75th Union Day on Saturday, as it held a parade in a show of force in the capital.Hundreds of troops paraded on Saturday alongside civil servants waving national flags in unison with troupes performing choreographed dances.

Most of the people released on this occasion will be from the prisons of the commercial hub at Yangon, reports AFP. The list also included 7 foreign prisoners but it was not clear if it includes the Australian academic Sean Turnnel who is in prison for over a year now. Turnell was working as an adviser to the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi when the military took power on Feb. 1 last year. 
Pardoning of some of the convicted persons on Union Day is a regular feature of the occasion. Last year the military government had released 23,000 prisoners. The government  held a parade at the capital city Naypyitaw where troupes and civil servants performed choreographed movements. Helicopters flew overhead carrying the country’s national flag. Head of the State Administration Council (SAC) Senior General Min Aung Hlaing announced that the government will halt the ongoing criminal proceedings against the members of the Arakan Army active in the Rakhine state. He also repeated the charge that the 2020 national elections involved fraud and malpractices. 

The military government released about 23,000 prisoners last April, with some rights groups at the time fearing the move was to free up space for opponents of the military and cause chaos. A similar number were released on last year’s Union Day as well.