Myanmar's military regime remits over 23,000 sentences
Synopsis
The military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically-elected government on February 1, alleging without evidence that elections her party won by a landslide had been marred by fraud.
Myanmar's military junta has remitted the sentences of more than 23,000 prisoners, announcements in state media from Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said on Friday, a public holiday.
The announcement said sentences for Myanmar prisoners were being remitted while the country "is establishing a new democratic state with peace, development and discipline to turn the prisoners into certain decent citizens, to please the public and to create humanitarian and compassionate grounds."
The sentences of 23,314 Myanmar prisoners and 55 foreign prisoners were remitted, the announcements said.
The military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically-elected government on February 1, alleging without evidence that elections her party won by a landslide had been marred by fraud.
On February 1, prior to the scheduled seating of Burma's newly elected Parliament, the military detained a broad cross-section of civilian government leadership, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, civil society leaders, journalists, and human right activists.
No major violence was reported. Soldiers blocked roads in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and the main city, Yangon. International and domestic TV channels, including the state broadcaster, went off air. Internet and phone services were disrupted. Banks said they had been forced to close.
Later, the military announced that 24 ministers and deputies had been removed, and 11 replacements had been named, including in finance, health, the interior and foreign affairs.
Tens of thousands of people in Myanmar are turning out in daily street protests as anger grows against the coup.
(With inputs from agency)