Burma: State media reported on Thursday that more than 6,000 prisoners were freed from prison as a result of an amnesty by Myanmar military officials, including Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and former adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Former British envoy Vicky Bowman and her husband were also released, along with American citizen Kyo Hate Oo and Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota.

Since the military coup in February last year, civilian leaders in Myanmar, including Aung San Suu Kyi, have been detained in pre-dawn raids.

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The coup led to widespread protests that were often violently suppressed and encouraged armed resistance among some of the Southeast Asian country's many ethnic groups.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government welcomed information about Turnell, who was charged with breaching a state secrets law and given a three-year prison sentence in September.

Professor Turnell remains our top priority, as a result, we will not have any additional comment at this time," Wong wrote on Twitter. Wong said earlier this month that Australia was considering imposing sanctions on Myanmar because of the country's deteriorating security and human rights situation.

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According to state media, a total of 5,774 male and 676 female prisoners were pardoned in honor of Myanmar's National Day and on "humanitarian grounds". According to the report, 11 celebrities and Suu Kyi's close aide and former minister Kyaw Tint Swee were among those freed.

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Bowman was charged with violating immigration laws; Her husband is the famous Burmese artist Ko Htein Lin. Treason and breaking the Communications Act were the charges Kubota was charged with.

According to Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, it is expected that the junta will use this release as the start of a process to free all political prisoners in Myanmar. People "should never be criminalized or imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights and expressing their political views."