Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader recently installed as civilian president, has issued a mass amnesty and pardon order to mark the traditional new year. This move, the third such action in six months, has resulted in amnesty for over 4,500 prisoners, with state television reporting 4,335 individuals. Additionally, the president has issued a blanket order to commute all death sentences.
Among those freed is former President Win Myint, a close ally of Aung San Suu Kyi. Both were imprisoned after being forced from power during the 2021 military coup. While Win Myint has been pardoned and freed, a lawyer for Aung San Suu Kyi reports that her sentence has been reduced. Suu Kyi, 80, had been serving a 27-year sentence for offenses her allies claim were politically motivated to keep her at bay.
President Min Aung Hlaing stated that he seeks stability and reconciliation in a nation torn apart by the military coup. However, critics argue that the current transition government is simply a civilian rebranding of military rule, which had previously resumed executions after ousting the civilian leadership in 2021.