Burma releases over 6,000 prisoners, including four foreigners

Burmese authorities announced Thursday a mass release of 6,000 prisoners, including four foreigners, as part of the National Day, according to Myanmar Now media. 

Archive - Protest against military junta in Rangoon, Burma - SANTOSH KRL / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

Australian economic advisor to the National League for Democracy, the Burmese political party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, Sean Turnell; former British ambassador Vicky Bowman and her husband, Ko Htein Lin; Japanese journalist and documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota; and American botanist Kyaw Htay Oo will be released on Thursday.

Turnell, an economist and professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, was arrested shortly after the coup that took place in the country last February 1, 2021. The academic, who worked as an advisor to 'former de facto leader' Suu Kyi, pleaded not guilty this summer in what was his first court appearance after being charged with allegedly violating Burma's State Secrets Act. 

Bowman was arrested in August on alleged migration-related charges. Bowman, who heads the Burma Center for Responsible Business (MCRB), based in the city, and who served as British ambassador to the Southeast Asian country for four years, was arrested along with her husband, Htein Lin, a Burmese artist and political activist.

Toru, 26, was arrested in July for filming anti-junta protests after entering the country without a visa. He was sentenced for sedition and violation of telecommunications laws, as well as guilty of violating immigration law.

Kyaw, a Burmese-born American botanist, was hired in 2020 to oversee Suu Kyi's gardens. Kyaw was arrested on terrorism charges and sentenced to seven years in prison for alleged crimes against the state.

According to the Association for the Care of Political Prisoners (AAPP) on November 16, there are more than 13,000 people detained by the military council and nearly 2,500 people have been killed.