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Yangon City residents launched balloons during a march against military authorities on March 24 – Photo: REUTERS
The Reuters news agency cited witnesses, including lawyers for some of the detainees, who said that some buses loaded with prisoners fled from the Insein prison in Yangon on the morning of March 24.
“All the people released are those who were caught in demonstrations, caught at night or who went out to buy something,” added a member of the legal advisory group to Reuters.
According to the Associated Press, among those released on March 24 were Thein Zaw, the company reporter, was arrested while working last month.
Myanmar’s military government did not specify how many people were released on March 24. A military spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
The liberation took place in the context of Yangon’s general strike. Many businesses have closed in Yangon, the roads in Myanmar’s largest city also have less traffic and commuters on March 24.
“No hanging out, no shops, no activities. They are all closed. Just for one day,” Nobel Aung, a civilian activist from Myanmar, told Reuters.
Myanmar has been in crisis and instability since the armed forces toppled the civilian government in 1-2. According to statistics from Myanmar’s private media, more than 2,000 people have been arrested and some 270 people have died since the coup.
On March 23, government spokesman Zaw Min Tun confirmed for the first time that 164 people had been killed in protests across Myanmar. He then expressed “sadness” at the number of deaths and said of these 9 members of the Myanmar security forces.
According to Mr. Zaw Min Tun, the military government is cooperating with 5 neighboring countries, including China, but did not specify what the cooperation was.
He stated that the head of the Myanmar State Executive Council, Governor General Min Aung Hlaing, expressed his desire to remain friends with the international community and highly esteemed countries that respect the stability of Myanmar.
Mr. Zaw Min Tun also confirmed that Myanmar has no plans to lift Internet restrictions because it is a means of inciting domestic violence. He emphasized that the most important thing for the country is the rule of law and stability, so that the Internet will be limited to “a certain amount of time” although the military always respects the media.
