• Burmese
Monday, July 14, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
30 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Latest Presidential Amnesty Includes Dozens of EAO Members, Accused Associates

Nyein Nyein by Nyein Nyein
May 7, 2019
in Burma
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0 0
A A
Reuters journalists Ko Wa Lone (2nd left) and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo (2nd right) reunite with their daughters after being released on Tuesday. / REUTERS

Reuters journalists Ko Wa Lone (2nd left) and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo (2nd right) reunite with their daughters after being released on Tuesday. / REUTERS

6.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Dozens of political prisoners including two Reuters journalists, members of ethnic armed organizations and civilians accused of being affiliated with the EAOs were among 6,520 prisoners released in a third round of presidential pardons on Tuesday.

News of the third and final round of releases associated with Myanmar’s traditional New Year, which fell on April 18 this year, was hailed across many sectors of society.

According to a statement announcing the May 7 presidential amnesty, the prisoners were released “without condition” as part of the Myanmar New Year and to help smooth the peace building process and national reconciliation.

RelatedPosts

Anti-Coup Icon Explains Urgent Call for NUG Reform

Anti-Coup Icon Explains Urgent Call for NUG Reform

July 11, 2025
382
Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

July 11, 2025
1.4k
Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

July 10, 2025
797

From April 18 to May 7, President U Win Myint pardoned 23,019 prisoners, many of them convicted of violating drug laws, in particular drug convicts who were especially young or old.

The amnestied prisoners also included the two Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were convicted in September 2018 of violating the Official Secrets Act in relation to their coverage of the Rakhine conflict. Also freed were 27 members of three EAOs: the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP), the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), according to U Zaw Htay, the spokesman for the President’s Office.

U Zaw Htay told reporters in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State, on Tuesday that Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo “were released in the best interest of the future of the country” after the State Counselor and the President received letters from their families at a meeting between media practitioners and the government, legislators and members of the judiciary in Naypyitaw on April 30.

“Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo were released as they opted against any further appeal [to the Chief Justice] after losing their appeal to the Naypyitaw Supreme Court [on April 23],” said U Tate Naing, the secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

He said the release of the journalists and other political prisoners was great news, as the AAPP had lobbied consistently for their release, and for an end to the practice of using charges such as the Official Secrets Act against journalists.

Families welcome loved ones released during the third round of presidential pardons in front of Insein Prison in Yangon on Tuesday. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

“This is a belated action by the government and Myanmar benefits little from this action,” said Ko Aung Zaw, the editor-in-chief of The Irrawaddy, regarding the release of the Reuters journalists, “but still good news.”

“If the government released them last year, it would have been much better,” he said, adding that they should not have been jailed in the first place.

He added, “The crackdown on the media is intensifying these days—this is also a worrying trend.”

Media professionals in Myanmar have faced prosecution under various charges. Under the current government there have been 31 complaints brought against the media and currently 47 journalists are facing trial, the majority of them under the Telecommunications Act, according to Athan, a Yangon-based group that promotes freedom of expression. Just this week, the editor of a publication based in Sittwe, Rakhine State was sued under the Unlawful Association Act.

The RCSS requested the release of a total of 15 people—some of whom are civilians and some of whom are members of the group—through its peace implementation committee, according to spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Sai Meng.

Among them, eight farmers from Hopong in Shan State were released: They were arrested on July 18, 2017 and accused of being affiliated with the RCSS and sentenced four to 10 years’ imprisonment under the Communication Law, Export and Import Law, Arms Act and State Protection Act on Feb. 26 of last year.

For the sake of peace and reconciliation

Government spokesman U Zaw Htay, who is also a key peace negotiator, said the government released 27 people from the EAOs’ prisoner lists as part of peace and national reconciliation efforts, after the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) received requests from the three EAOs. The RCSS, SSPP and ABSDF sent lists comprising a total of 30 people believed to be in prison. The government scrutinized the lists and released 23, saying the rest were no longer in prison.

Two ABSDF members, U Aung Swe Oo and U Maung Oo, were sentenced to two years in prison on April 11. They were arrested on Nov. 30 last year and charged under the Unlawful Association Act’s Article 17(1) after traveling to a conflict zone in Mohnyin Township, Kachin State to attend the funeral of a member of their organization. This is the second time the ABSDF has benefited from a presidential pardon; group member U Min Htay faced the same charge and sentence in Kachin State. He was arrested in December 2016, charged in 2017 and released the same year.

The AAPP secretary said that among the discharged were two boys—Mai Cho Min Htwe (aka Aik Yen) and Sai Aik Lone. They were released from Hnget Aw San Youth Rehabilitation Center in Yangon’s Kawhmu Township, commonly known as the “children’s prison”, on Tuesday.

Families welcome loved ones released during the third round of presidential pardons in front of Insein Prison in Yangon on Tuesday. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

Mai Cho Min Htwe, a student from Namhsam Township in Shan State, was arrested in Oct. 5, 2017 and sentenced to two years’ detention under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act on Oct. 30 of that year for an alleged affiliation with the Ta’ang Nationalities Liberation Army. Sai Aik Lone from a village in southern Shan State was arrested in 2016 and convicted in 2018 under Article 17(1).

Four women from Mandalay who advocated for land rights were also released from Obo Prison in Mandalay, according to the AAPP. Land-rights activists Daw Mya Sint, Hnin Hayman Win, Ma Htay and Ma Chaw Su were arrested on June 18, 2018 and sentenced to one year and six months’ imprisonment under Section 505(b) (incitement) of the Penal Code on Feb. 25, 2019.

Notably absent from Tuesday’s amnesty list were Rakhine politician Dr. Aye Maung and author Ko Wai Hin Aung. They appealed to a higher court after the District Court of Sittwe on March 19 sentenced them to 20 years in prison for high treason and another two years for defamation, to be served concurrently.  They were arrested in January last year for remarks they made earlier that month at an event in Rathaetaung Township commemorating the 233rd anniversary of the fall of the Arakan Kingdom to the Burmese in 1785, and prosecuted in September.

According to U Tate Naing, the amnesties will bring a much-needed improvement to the prison situation by reducing the prisoner population, which currently far exceeds capacity. Myanmar’s prisons were built to house some 62,000 inmates but currently hold more than 120,000 people, half of them drug inmates, he said.

There are more than 300 activists currently facing trial under various charges, including Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, and 17(1) and 17(2) of the Unlawful Association Act, according to the AAPP.

In 2016, the NLD government included people facing trial in the amnesty, something former president U Thein Sein once did as well, so those who are currently facing charges should also be acquitted soon, U Tate Naing said.

As long as new charges are brought against journalists, political activists and local residents in conflict zones, the cycle of jailing political prisoners and releasing them under pardons will continue, he said.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: AmnestyEAOsPolitical Prisonerspresidential pardonPress Freedomrights activists
Nyein Nyein

Nyein Nyein

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Has China Lost Control of Ethnic Armies in Myanmar’s War-Torn Borderland?
Guest Column

Has China Lost Control of Ethnic Armies in Myanmar’s War-Torn Borderland?

by Bertil Lintner
November 6, 2023
21.4k

The Brotherhood Alliance’s offensive against the junta in northern Shan has shut down trade and resource access, but Beijing still...

Read moreDetails
Arakan Army Seizes Major Myanmar Junta Base on Bangladesh Border
Burma

Arakan Army Seizes Major Myanmar Junta Base on Bangladesh Border

by Hein Htoo Zan
May 4, 2024
13.4k

The fall of the Kyee Kan Pyin Border Guard Police headquarters exposes Maungdaw to AA attacks.

Read moreDetails
Chinese Evacuate Border ‘Scam Town’ Besieged by Myanmar Resistance 
Burma

Chinese Evacuate Border ‘Scam Town’ Besieged by Myanmar Resistance 

by The Irrawaddy
November 7, 2023
10.4k

Crime bosses are fleeing Laukkai on junta helicopters while Myanmar workers remain trapped, locals say.

Read moreDetails
Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine

by The Irrawaddy
August 24, 2023
10.2k

Over 200 civil society organizations demand that city-state block regime’s access to arms, dual-use goods, technology and funds.

Read moreDetails
--
Guest Column

‘Broken Tooth’: The Face of Chinese Investment in Myanmar

by Bertil Lintner
July 17, 2023
22k

The spread of enterprises run by Macau triad boss Wan Kuok Koi and his associates in Myanmar is illustrative of...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta’s Yangon Economics Minister was Friends with Assassin Conspirator 
Burma

Myanmar Junta’s Yangon Economics Minister was Friends with Assassin Conspirator 

by The Irrawaddy
September 28, 2022
18.5k

Lieutenant Colonel Myo Myint Aung has been appointed to run Yangon’s economy, despite having a military background.

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Displaced villagers take refuge at a monastery in northern Rakhine State's Mrauk-U Township. / Khine Murn Chun Mrauk U

State Gov’t Requests $21M for IDPs in N. Rakhine

Karenni rights activists and NRPC members meet Tuesday to negotiate the removal of a statue of Gen. Aung San in Kayah State. / Facebook

NRPC, Karenni Rights Groups Still Struggle to Resolve Aung San Statue Debate

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

5 days ago
1.2k
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

6 days ago
1.1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

    Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Las Vegas in Laos’: the Riverside City Awash With Crime

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • KIA Denies Rumor Chief Under House Arrest in China

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.