Myanmar’s military rulers will release 5,864 prisoners, including 180 foreigners, under an amnesty to mark the country’s 77 years of independence from British colonial rule, state media said.

The military said on Saturday that it had ordered the release “on humanitarian and compassionate grounds” and would commute the life sentences of 144 people to 15 years, according to state-run MRTV television.

Details were not provided of what the prisoners had been convicted of and the nationalities of the foreign detainees, who were set to be deported on release, were not known.

The Associated Press news agency said the foreigners to be released could include four Thai fishermen who were arrested by Myanmar’s navy in late November after patrol boats opened fire on Thai fishing vessels in waters close to their maritime border in the Andaman Sea.

Thailand’s prime minister has said she expects the four to be released on Independence Day.

Myanmar regularly grants amnesty to thousands of people to commemorate holidays or Buddhist festivals. Last year the military government announced the release of more than 9,000 prisoners to mark independence. A similar release took place in October 2021.

Among those still imprisoned is the country’s former leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The 79-year-old is serving a 27-year sentence tied to 14 criminal charges brought against her by the military, ranging from incitement and election fraud to corruption. She denies all the charges.

This year’s Independence Day ceremony was held in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw and involved 500 representatives from the government and military.

A speech by Myanmar’s military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing – who was not present at the event – was delivered by deputy prime minister and army general, Soe Win.

Soe Win, deputy commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s Defence Services, leaves after a ceremony to mark Myanmar’s 77th Independence Day in Naypyidaw on January 4, 2025 [Aljazeera]

In the speech, he called on ethnic minority armed groups, that have been fighting military rule for the last four years, to put down their weapons and “resolve the political issue through peaceful means”.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021, when the military overthrew an elected civilian government and violently suppressed pro-democracy protests, leading to a nationwide armed rebellion that has made strong gains against the military on the battlefield.

Two weeks ago a rebel group known as the Arakan Army captured a major regional command in the country’s west, the second to fall to the armed resistance movement in five months. The group also recently took control of a 271km (168 mile) stretch of the border with Bangladesh when it captured the town of Maungdaw.

[Aljazeera]