Myanmar reduces prison terms by one-sixth for all inmates; Aung San Suu Kyi's sentence further commuted
Al Jazeera Staff
Myanmar's junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has ordered a one-sixth reduction in prison terms for all inmates, further reducing the sentence of former elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The move is the second mass amnesty this month, as the military regime faces ongoing civil conflict and international criticism over political repression.
On Thursday (April 10), Myanmar's presidential office announced that President Min Aung Hlaing signed an order cutting prison terms by one-sixth for all inmates nationwide to mark a public holiday. This is the second mass amnesty this month, after military authorities released 4,335 prisoners earlier in April.
The order applies to former elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, detained since the 2021 military coup. She was originally sentenced to 33 years in prison, later reduced to 27 years, on charges her supporters say were politically motivated. An anonymous member of her legal team told Reuters that with this latest reduction, Suu Kyi now faces about 18 years in detention.
Suu Kyi, 80, retains significant popular support in Myanmar but remains largely isolated, with family members reporting her health is deteriorating. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 but did not collect it in person for fear of being barred from returning home.
In another political development, Myanmar's leading pro-military party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), claimed a landslide victory in a three-stage general election held in January against a backdrop of civil war and widespread repression. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, along with dozens of others, was dissolved or did not participate, criticized as a move to legitimize military rule.
In his inaugural speech this month, Min Aung Hlaing said, “Myanmar has returned to the path of democracy and is heading toward a better future,” but acknowledged the country still faces many challenges. Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office said large population groups, including the Rohingya Muslim minority, were excluded from the voter rolls because they had been stripped of citizenship.
According to data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 30,000 people have been detained on political charges since the 2021 coup.
