By Ankit Panda
The prisoner release follws up on an amnesty guarantee made by the government in 2013.
The government of Myanmar announced Tuesday that it will release over 3,000 prisoners, including former military intelligence officers. The move follows a broader initiative that began earlier this year when several former political prisoners were freed. Thein Sein, Myanmar’s reformist president, has set out political prisoner pardons as part of his reform agenda. His government made an amnesty promise in July 2013, pledging to ultimately free all political prisoners by the end of last year. Failing to meet that deadline, the government continued releasing political prisoners into this year. According to human rights groups estimates, only a few hundred political prisoners remain imprisoned in Myanmar.
According to a BBC report, some of the military intelligence officers that were released in this batch of political prisoners have ties to former Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who was purged from power 10 years ago. The former prime minister was released in 2012.
Read the full story at The Diplomat