By Naewna and AP – published by Yahoo!News
ALTHOUGH Myanmar released 151 Thais today (Jan. 4) in marking its 77th anniversary of independence from Britain the four Thai fishermen captured by Myanmar navy in an attack on Thai trawlers on Nov. 30 and now sentenced to four to six years in jail were not among them, Naewna newspaper said.
Pol. Gen. Thatchai Pitaneelabut, inspector-general and director of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, travelled to Chiang Rai to receive the 151 Thais at the Second Friendship at approximately 1 p.m.
The released Thais were tricked into working for call centres and were arrested by Myanmar officials. They have already served part of their sentence and were pardoned.
However despite much anticipation the four Thai fishermen were not freed today.
Myanmar’s military government has also released more than 6,000 prisoners and reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty in marking the country’s Independence Day today, according to an AP report published by Yahoo!News
They included just a small proportion of hundreds of political detainees jailed for opposing army rule since the military seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. That takeover was met with massive nonviolent resistance, which has since become a widespread armed struggle.
State-run MRTV television reported that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, granted amnesties covering 5,864 prisoners from Myanmar, as well as 180 foreigners who will be deported. Mass prisoner releases are common on holidays and other significant occasions in Myanmar.
The terms of release warn that if the freed detainees violate the law again, they will have to serve the remainder of their original sentences in addition to any new sentence.
In a separate report, it said Min Aung Hlaing had commuted the life sentences of 144 prisoners to 15 years’ imprisonment. The report provided no details about them.
The report also said that all other prisoners will have their sentences reduced by one sixth, except those convicted under the Explosive Substances Act, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Arms Act and the Counterterrorism Law, all laws which are often used against opponents of military rule.
Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for the military government, said in an audio note to journalists that those being released included about 600 prisoners who were prosecuted under Section 505(A) of Myanmar’s penal code, which makes it a crime to spread comments that create public unrest or fear or spread false news.
He said Khet Aung, a former chief minister of the southern Kachin state, was among those freed. Khet Aung was arrested soon after the army takeover and was sentenced in April 2022 to 12 years in prison on corruption charges.
Zaw Min Tun also said most of the freed foreigners are Thais who were arrested for gambling in the border town of Tachileik in eastern Myanmar. He said Indonesians who were arrested for fishing in Myanmar’s territorial waters were also among those freed.
He did not mention whether four Thai fishermen, who were arrested by Myanmar’s navy in late November after patrol boats opened fire on Thai fishing vessels in waters close to their maritime border in the Andaman Sea, were among the released. Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra had said she expects the four to be released on Independence Day.
Prisoner releases began on Saturday but can take a few days to be completed. In the country’s largest city, Yangon, buses took prisoners out of Insein Prison, where friends and families of detainees had waited since morning for the announced releases, at around 11.30 a.m.
There was no sign that the prisoner release would include Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held virtually incommunicado by the military since its seizure of power.
The 79-year-old Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence after being convicted in a series of politically tinged prosecutions brought by the military.
Her supporters and independent analysts say the cases against her are an attempt to discredit her and legitimise the military’s seizure of power while keeping her from taking part in the military’s promised election, for which no date has yet been set.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights monitoring organization, 28,096 people have been arrested on political charges since the army takeover.
Of those arrested, 21,499 were still in detention as of Friday, the AAPP reported. At least 6,106 civilians have been killed by security forces in the same period, the group says. Its tally does not include all casualties from combat.
Myanmar became a British colony in the late 19th century and regained its independence on Jan. 4, 1948.
In the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s military government celebrated the anniversary with a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Some of the captured fishermen and their trawler S. Charoenchai which Myanmar navy seized. Photo: Thai Rath
Insert: Released prisoners, front centre and right, are welcomed by family members and colleagues outside Insein Prison today, Jan. 4, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar. Photo: AP/Thein Zaw and published by Yahoo!News
Front Page: One of the Thai fishing boats attacked by the Myanmar navy. Photo: Naewna
Also read: Thai fishermen jailed in Myanmar will be pardoned: PM
Myanmar navy shot at three Thai fishing boats without warning
Envoy to be quizzed about Myanmar navy attacking Thai trawlers
Four Thai fishermen’s freedom from Myanmar only a matter of time
Paetongtarn reported to possess 13.8 billion baht in wealth
Off-duty policeman fatally shot while trying to stop a fight
