Myanmar’s military is releasing 6,000 prisoners, among them opposition figures, a former British ambassador, a Japanese filmmaker, and an Australian adviser to the deposed civilian leader.
Vicky Bowman and Toru Kubota were imprisoned earlier this year, while Sean Turnell was detained shortly after the coup of 2021. They will be expelled.
The military junta stated that the amnesty was to commemorate Myanmar National Day.
Since seizing power, the military has arrested more than 16,000 individuals.
It overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, sparking massive protests across the nation and a widespread resistance movement.
Ms. Bowman served as the UK’s envoy to Myanmar between 2002 and 2006 and was arrested while serving as the director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) in Yangon.
She is a well-known member of Myanmar’s small international community and speaks Burmese fluently. Her husband Htein Lin was a political prisoner in the past.
When the couple returned to the city from their home in Shan State, they were detained. The military authorities charged both of them with failing to register her new address.
However, the case was likely about broader political concerns than immigration violations, for which foreigners in Myanmar are rarely prosecuted.
“Thousands of people jailed in Myanmar since the coup were innocent and should never have been imprisoned in the first place,” said Amnesty International’s Australia Impact Director Tim O’Connor, adding that the release should not “detract international attention from the brutality of the Myanmar military’s actions since the coup in February 2021.”
“Under the military rule in Myanmar, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, and secret trials behind closed doors have become the norm,” he said, calling for the release of “anyone who cannot be charged with a recognizable crime.”
Mr. Turnell was arrested in Yangon in February 2021, just days after the military’s takeover, and sentenced to three years in prison under the Official Secrets Act.
He was a close advisor to deposed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison on a variety of offenses since her ouster.
The Australian government stated at the time that it opposed the court’s judgment in the instance of Mr. Turnell, emphasizing that their citizen had been prosecuted in a secret military court.
Penny Wong, the Australian foreign minister, praised reports of Mr. Turnell’s release.
She tweeted, “We welcome reports about Professor Sean Turnell.” “Professor Turnell remains our number one priority. We shall thus not comment further at this time.”
In July, 26-year-old documentary filmmaker Toru Kobuta was arrested near a pro-government rally in Yangon. He was condemned to ten years in prison on allegations of sedition and for breaking the legislation governing internet communications. Before today’s amnesty, at least 68 journalists were jailed in Myanmar, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Kubota, who initially arrived in Myanmar in July, was reportedly making a “documentary showcasing a Myanmar citizen” early this year, according to a friend of his.
According to the filmmaker’s website Film Freeway, Kubota began his career in 2014 after he met a Rohingya refugee in Japan, and he has since filmed “several films about refugees and ethnic difficulties in Myanmar.”
Kyaw Tint Swe, a former minister and close adviser of Aung San Suu Kyi, was also released, according to state media.
Since assuming control in Myanmar, the military has been accused of extensive breaches of human rights. According to the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the military has killed over 2,400 people since the coup.
