The Burmese military junta released more than 1,600 prisoners on Sunday in an amnesty to “bring joy” to the country’s new year holiday, but political prisoners were not among those released, according to reports.
Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe, a state secretary of the junta, said that a total of 1,619 prisoners, including 42 detained foreigners who will be deported, were pardoned to “bring joy to the people and address humanitarian concerns.”
Burma Prisons Department’s spokesman Khin Shwe claimed that he was unaware of any political prisoners being released under the amnesty, as he observed that most of those released were drug offenders and common criminals.
…