Myanmar’s military command has waived more than 23,000 sentences for prisoners, state media report.
The prisoners will be released on the occasion of a national holiday, military leader Min Aung Hlaing said in a statement. It went on to say that Myanmar is “establishing a new democratic state with peace, development and discipline” and that the prisoners are “being made decent citizens for the good of the people to create humanity and compassion”.
Demonstrations
Last Monday, the army under the leadership of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing seized power in Myanmar, which had only had a civilian government headed by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi since 2016. Before that, Myanmar was a military dictatorship for decades.
Since then, demonstrations have been held in the largest cities of Myanmar, Yangon and Mandalay, as well as in the capital Naypyitaw. The protesters are not deterred by it crackdown by the authorities nor by the corona rules, which prohibit gatherings of more than five people.
The UN Human Rights Council will hold an additional meeting on the coup in the country later today.
Social media play an important role in demonstrations. Photos and videos of the events that are not shown on state television do find their way online. The military command previously ordered providers to block Instagram and Twitter. The internet was closed for a while.
According to Facebook, the army leadership is spreading misinformation via the platform. The company says it limits the messages from the military. The messages are no longer recommended to other users and are less likely to spread. The measure applies to all Facebook pages and profiles of the military.
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