ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia

New Myanmar Administration Releases Ousted President Win Myint in Mass Amnesty

Newly inaugurated President Min Aung Hlaing also announced a reduction in the 27-year prison sentence of ousted former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

On Friday, authorities in Myanmar released the country’s ousted president Win Myint as part of a mass prisoner amnesty, while reducing the prison sentence of imprisoned leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

According to a Reuters report that cited the state broadcaster MRTV, President Min Aung Hlaing granted an amnesty to 4,335 prisoners to mark the Thingyan New Year holiday, including 179 ​foreigners, who were set to be deported. An unspecified number of prisoners also had their death sentences commuted to life in prison, life sentences reduced to 40 years, and other prison terms reduced ⁠ by one-sixth, the report added.

As part of the pardon, the authorities also announced a reduction in Aung San Suu Kyi’s 27-year prison sentence, which was imposed for a range of politically-motivated charges, including incitement, corruption, election fraud, and violation of Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act. According to media reports, the sentence will be reduced by “at least four years.” This reduction will make little practical difference for the 80-year-old, although there have also been unverified reports that she will be (or has already been) transferred from prison to house arrest.

Win Myint was elected president in 2018, and served in the role as an effective proxy for Aung San Suu Kyi, because the military-drafted constitution barred her from holding the presidency. She served instead in the bespoke role of state counsellor, in which capacity she was widely recognized as the de facto leader of Myanmar.

The pair were removed from power and imprisoned when the military seized power in February 2021, right before the National League for Democracy (NLD) government was set to be sworn into its second consecutive term in office. While Win Myint was reportedly released on Friday from a prison in Bago Region, Aung San Suu Kyi’s current whereabouts are unknown, and she has not been seen in public since the end of her trials, which were held in tightly controlled circumstances in the capital Naypyidaw. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, nearly 31,000 people have been arrested since the 2021 coup, 22,170 of whom remain in custody.

Also, among those released on Friday was the award-winning filmmaker Shin Daewe, who was sentenced to........

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