Mawlamyine, April (18)
In Mon State, the military council granted amnesty to more than 220 male and female prisoners from various prisons, detention centers, and jails to mark the Myanmar’s New Year, but political prisoners were not included among them, according to Mon State Prison Department.
The military regime released a total of 224 prisoners—202 male prisoners and 22 female prisoners—from 11 prisons and jails in Mon State, with some restrictions.
Among the prisoners released by the military council were mostly those convicted of theft, drug offenses, and desertion from the police department and the army; not a single political prisoner was included.
A former political prisoner said, “We have already predicted that political prisoners will not be among those who will be released by the military council, and most political prisoners hope for political change rather than amnesty.”
To mark the Myanmar’s New Year, the military council released 3,015 prisoners who were serving sentences in various prisons, detention centers, and jails across the country under Section 401, Subsection 1, of the Criminal Procedure Code, with the condition that the new sentence would be added to the previous one if they committed another crime again.
Furthermore, the military council stated that 98 foreign male and female prisoners serving sentences in various jails had been released and deported in order to maintain friendship among the countries and on humanitarian grounds.
In Mon State, political prisoners are kept in Kyaikmaraw Central Prison, and there are more than 210 male political prisoners and more than 90 female political prisoners who have been arrested and imprisoned on political charges from various areas, including Yangon, Mandalay,and Bago Regions, and Karen and Mon States.
News – Than Lwin Times
Photo – MOI