Myanmar s ruling junta announced on Monday that it would free more than 5,600 anti-regime protesters this week in its first significant release of political prisoners since seizing power in a Feb. 1 coup.
The junta said it was granting the prisoners amnesty to mark the Lighting Festival, a three-day holiday that starts on Tuesday. Although it gave no indication when Top Officials of the former civilian government, including its leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, would be among those released.
Most of the protesters were arrested during a national crackdown this year as millions took to the streets and staged a brutal strike. Soldiers and police detained more than 1,170 protesters — often by shooting them in the head — and killed more than 7,300 others, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group.
In recent months the military has successful suppressed street protests, but faces frequent guerrilla attacks in cities. It is also clashing with newly-formed rebel units in outlying areas, including Chin State, where witnesses say the military is building up forces.