Myanmar frees 7000 political prisoners

Some 6966 prisoners were pardoned, including the Chinese citizens held in Kachin state, of whom 153 were given life sentences last week that prompted a diplomatic protest by an “extremely concerned” China.

Myanmar announced the release of thousands of prisoners including scores of Chinese loggers on Thursday in a mass amnesty aimed at promoting “goodwill”, officials said, after a series of spats between Yangon and Beijing.

All but two of the Chinese prisoners were sentenced to life imprisonment for illegally logging in northern Myanmar, close to the Chinese-Myanmarese border.

Authorities acting on the instructions of President Thein Sein ordered some 6,966 detainees – 210 of them foreigners – to be freed across the country after they had been “well disciplined”, according to a statement on the Ministry of Information website.

That has fueled resentment in Burma, which the Global Times, published by the People’s Daily, said in an editorial last week could have been the reason for the harsh sentences.

The workers arrived at the border on Thursday evening after their release from Myitkyina prison in the main city of Kachin state, according to China Central Television.

Some former military intelligence officials are also believed to be among those freed. Past governments have released political prisoners as a way of easing criticism from overseas. Chinese economic penetration is big and highly visible in northern Myanmar, and some large infrastructure and mining projects have drawn charges of being insensitive to the environment and local concerns.

The amnesty coincides with the celebration of a national Buddhist holiday and those released included 201 foreigners, Chinese loggers, dissident journalists and military officials associated with the former Junta, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Although the major charges against the officers involved corruption, it was their ties to former intelligence chief and prime minister Khin Nyunt that led to their jailing.

Myanmar jails were supposed to be free of prisoners of conscience by 2014, but the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog group which monitors the situation of political prisoners in Myanmar, says about 158 remain.