Bangkok: The head of the military government in Myanmar released more than 7,000 prisoners, including some political prisoners, on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of the country's independence from Britain, and outlined plans for elections later this year.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing urged other countries, international organizations and its own people to support a "genuine, discipline-enriched multi-party democratic system", which the country's ruling military has set as its objective since Aung was overthrown. referred to. San Suu Kyi's elected government in February 2021.
After 50 years of military rule, the military takeover set back nearly a decade of democratic progress.
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It is widely believed that the plan for a general election represents an attempt to normalize the military's use of the electoral process to capture power and produce a result that ensures that the generals retain power. The military will be in charge of the entire process, and over the past two years it has worked to undermine any credible opposition.
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There was no indication that Suu Kyi's sentence was partially commuted along with 7,012 other prisoners who were found not guilty of serious crimes. The military has essentially kept him incommunicado since seizing control.
Suu Kyi, who is 77, was found guilty in military incitement trials and is currently serving a 33-year prison sentence. Theft of official secrets, illegal import and possession of walkie-talkies, treason, fraud in elections, and corruption are among them.
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The cases brought against him, according to his supporters and unaffiliated analysts, are an attempt to tarnish his reputation and validate the military's takeover of power by barring him from voting in elections, which the military has promised this year. By August of the year.