Foreign: More than 4,500 prisoners in Myanmar have been pardoned and others have had their sentences commuted under a pardon decree by President Min Aung Hlaing to celebrate the traditional New Year, state media reported on Friday.
According to the AP, published on April 17, 2026, the identities of those released were not immediately available. Relatives and friends of prisoners have been waiting outside the main gate at Insein Prison on the northern outskirts of Yangon since morning.
There was no sign that former leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be released or whether the amnesty would include thousands of political prisoners who were detained for opposing military rule.
The amnesty came a week after Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in after an election that critics say was neither free nor fair and was designed to maintain the military’s grip on power.
Translated by Nay Tola
