Myanmar will release more than 5,000 people jailed for protesting against a February coup that ousted the civilian government, the country’s junta chief said on Monday.
A total of 5,636 prisoners will be freed to mark the Thadingyut festival later in October, Min Aung Hlaing said, days after he was excluded from a regional summit over his government’s commitment to defusing the bloody crisis.
Myanmar has been mired in chaos since the coup, with more than 1,100 civilians killed in a bloody crackdown on dissent and more than 8,000 arrested according to a local monitoring group.
More than 7,300 are currently behind bars across the country, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Myanmar authorities released more than 2,000 anti-coup protesters from prisons across the country in July, including journalists critical of the military government.
Those still in custody include the American journalist Danny Fenster, who has been held since being arrested on May 24.
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