Myanmar (formerly Burma) has announced the release of nearly 6,000 prisoners, including four foreigners, held in the country as part of an amnesty marking National Victory Day.
News agency France-Presse (AFP) initially reported the release of 700 prisoners, but later international news outlets, including the Associated Press (AP), cited official Burmese broadcaster MRTV as saying that a total of 5,774 people had been amnestied. .
Australian professor Sean Durnell, Japanese director Toru Kubota, diplomat Vicky Bowman and American botanist Kyaw Hte will also be released, Myanmar Now news agency reported.
Durnell, 58, is an associate professor of economics at Macquarie University in Sydney.and was arrested by Burmese security forces at a hotel in Rangoon in September after being sentenced to three years in prison for violating the Official Secrets Act and the country’s immigration law.
Kubota, a 26-year-old documentary filmmaker, was arrested on July 30 by plainclothes police., in Rangoon, took pictures and videos of the protests against the military coup last year. In October, he was sentenced by a prison court to ten years in prison for inciting dissent against the military and violating the country’s telecommunications laws.
Vicky Bowman, 56, was the UK’s ambassador to Myanmar. She was detained in August along with her husband, a Burmese national, and will now be released, AFP reported. The diplomat was sentenced to a year in prison for immigration offences.
KYao, American botanist, of Burmese descent, He was convicted of terrorism and sentenced to seven years in prison for crimes against the state.
[notícia atualizada às 9h00]
