Two Myanmar journalists and one pro-democracy activist released in prisoner amnesty

Sources told DVB that journalists Sithu Aung Myint and Htet Htet Khine, who worked for BBC Media Action, and pro-democracy singer Thanthar Win, were released from prison on Nov. 30 in a regime amnesty that included 3,085 other political prisoners.

Thaik Tun Oo, the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM) spokesperson, told DVB that prison authorities released inmates, who were either convicted or detained on allegations of violating Section 505-A of the Penal Code, with only a few days remaining on their sentences.

Sithu Aung Myint was arrested in Bahan Township, Yangon Region, in August 2021 and convicted of violating Section 505-A, which criminalizes spreading “fake news” and “incitement” against the military, as well as Section 124(a) for “causing contempt against the nation.” He was sentenced to five years at Yangon’s Insein Prison.