Myanmar junta says to release over 6,000 prisoners in annual amnesty

YANGON— Myanmar’s junta said on Sunday it would release more than 6,000 prisoners as part of an annual amnesty to mark the country’s independence day.

The military has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its February 2021 coup that ended Myanmar’s brief democratic experiment and plunged the nation into civil war.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has pardoned 6,134 imprisoned Myanmar nationals, the National Defence and Security Council said in a statement.