YANGON: Myanmar’s junta said it will release more than 1,600 prisoners from jails across the country on Sunday to mark the Buddhist new year, without specifying whether those being pardoned were protesters or common criminals.
The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government was ousted last year in a military coup, which sparked huge protests and a deadly crackdown.
State television announced that 1,619 prisoners, including 42 foreigners had been “pardoned” and will be released to mark the new year.
It was unclear whether anti-junta protesters or journalists jailed for covering the coup will be among those freed.
On Sunday morning, more than 100 people gathered outside Yangon’s Insein prison hoping to be reunited with loved ones, AFP correspondents said.
Among them was a woman waiting for her 19-year-old nephew, who was sentenced to three years imprisonment for incitement against the military.
“He was young, and he may have some feeling to fight,” she said, declining to give her name.
“I wish all young children will be released including my nephew. They all were innocent.”
Another woman waiting outside the prison said she was hopeful that her uncle — sentenced to three years in prison in March because of his political activism — would be released.
“I came here as I expected that he would be among other prisoners who got amnesty,” she said.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she had received a letter from her uncle in prison, reassuring her he was well.
There was no mention of the Australian economist Sean Turnell, a former Suu Kyi adviser who was arrested shortly after the coup.
He is currently on trial for allegedly breaching the official secrets act, which carries a maximum 14-year jail sentence.
The exact details of his alleged offense have not been made public, though state television has said he had access to “secret state financial information” and had tried to flee Myanmar.
Human rights groups have raised concerns about his prosecution, particularly after the Australian embassy was denied access to his court hearing in September.
Myanmar typically grants an annual amnesty to thousands of prisoners to mark the Buddhist New Year, usually a joyous holiday celebrated in many parts with water fights.
But this year, with the bloody military crackdown on dissent, the streets in many major cities have been silent as people protest junta rule.
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Myanmar junta says to free 1,600 prisoners in new year amnesty
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Myanmar junta says to free 1,600 prisoners in new year amnesty
- Unclear whether anti-junta protesters or journalists jailed for covering the coup will be among those freed
FBI fires more agents who worked on Trump classified document investigation
WASHINGTON: The FBI has fired additional agents who worked on an investigation into President Donald Trump, this time terminating employees who participated in the probe into the Republican’s hoarding of classified documents, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The firings are part of a broader personnel purge under the leadership of Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee who, over the last year, has pushed out dozens of employees who either contributed to investigations of the president or who were perceived as not in alignment with the administration’s agenda. The Justice Department has engaged in similarly sweeping firings of prosecutors since Trump took office last year.
The FBI Agents Association condemned the firings as unlawful and endangering national security.
“These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals — ultimately putting the nation at greater risk,” the association said in a statement.
The latest round of terminations included employees who helped investigate Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, a case that involved a high-profile FBI search of the Florida property and resulted in a federal prosecution charging the now-president with holding onto top-secret records from his first term in office and obstructing government efforts to get them back.
The firings were confirmed to The Associated Press by multiple people familiar with the matter who spoke on anonymity because they could not publicly discuss the personnel moves. Several of the people said a total of 10 employees were fired, and one said at least 10 were fired.
The FBI has also fired agents who participated in a separate investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. That investigation also led to criminal charges, but like the Mar-a-Lago case, was abandoned by special counsel Jack Smith after Trump won the White House in November 2024 because of longstanding Justice Department legal opinions that say sitting presidents cannot be indicted.
The firings were revealed on the same day that Patel was quoted as telling Reuters the FBI during the Biden administration had subpoenaed his phone records and those of current White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Patel said the action had occurred in 2022 and 2023 when they were private citizens.
Patel was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in 2022 to testify before a grand jury in Washington in the Mar-a-Lago investigation, and appeared after being given immunity, the AP has previously reported.
The firings are part of a broader personnel purge under the leadership of Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee who, over the last year, has pushed out dozens of employees who either contributed to investigations of the president or who were perceived as not in alignment with the administration’s agenda. The Justice Department has engaged in similarly sweeping firings of prosecutors since Trump took office last year.
The FBI Agents Association condemned the firings as unlawful and endangering national security.
“These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals — ultimately putting the nation at greater risk,” the association said in a statement.
The latest round of terminations included employees who helped investigate Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, a case that involved a high-profile FBI search of the Florida property and resulted in a federal prosecution charging the now-president with holding onto top-secret records from his first term in office and obstructing government efforts to get them back.
The firings were confirmed to The Associated Press by multiple people familiar with the matter who spoke on anonymity because they could not publicly discuss the personnel moves. Several of the people said a total of 10 employees were fired, and one said at least 10 were fired.
The FBI has also fired agents who participated in a separate investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. That investigation also led to criminal charges, but like the Mar-a-Lago case, was abandoned by special counsel Jack Smith after Trump won the White House in November 2024 because of longstanding Justice Department legal opinions that say sitting presidents cannot be indicted.
The firings were revealed on the same day that Patel was quoted as telling Reuters the FBI during the Biden administration had subpoenaed his phone records and those of current White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Patel said the action had occurred in 2022 and 2023 when they were private citizens.
Patel was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in 2022 to testify before a grand jury in Washington in the Mar-a-Lago investigation, and appeared after being given immunity, the AP has previously reported.
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