Myanmar Independence Day: Leader Of The Military Junta Puji Support A Number Of Countries, Free 7,000 Prisoners

Illustration Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (front) leads the Myanmar military defile. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru)

JAKARTA - Myanmar's military junta government will release 7,012 detainees under amnesty to commemorate independence day according to state broadcaster MRTV on Wednesday, while military leaders praised a number of countries for maintaining ties with Myanmar.

Myanmar has faced international isolation and Western-led sanctions, since the military seized power from the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung Sang Suu Kyi nearly two years ago.

"I would like to thank some international and regional countries and individuals who have positively cooperated with us amid all pressure, criticism and attacks," Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said in Myanmar's 75th Independence Anniversary speech.

"We are working closely with neighboring countries such as China, India, Thailand, Laos, and Bangladesh. We will work together for the stability and construction of the border," Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech at a parade in the capital Naypyitaw, complete with flags waving at civil servants, soldiers. lined up, tanks and military jets.

Authorities usually release some detainees to mark the day when Myanmar declares independence from British rule.

MRTV said the latest amnesty would not include those convicted of murder and rape, or imprisoned for charges of explosives, association that violates the law, weapons, drugs, prevention of natural disasters and corruption.

It is not yet clear whether any political prisoners will be released.

Meanwhile, Suu Kyi was recently found guilty of five counts of corruption and jailed for another seven years, completing an internationally condemned trial marathon as a scam designed to prevent the junta's biggest threat amid widespread domestic resistance to her power.

Suu Kyi is being held in prison in Naypyitaw in an isolation cell and the military insists she has accepted legal proceedings by an independent court.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army took power from Suu Kyi's government on February 1, 2021, detaining her and other officials and responding to protests and pro-democracy dissent with brutal force, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

Street protests are now rare following the bloody crackdown, as the military engages in clashes almost daily with ethnic minority forces and insecurity has spread to remote parts of the country, with the People's Defense Forces having taken up arms to fight back to democracy.

The United States, the European Union, and countries from Britain to Canada, have imposed sanctions on the Myanmar military and individuals deemed to have helped the junta in power.

Most recently, the UN Security Council last month adopted its first resolution in Myanmar in 74 years, demanding an end to violence and for the junta to release all political prisoners.

Referring to international pressure, Min Aung Hlaing denounced what he called "disturbations from countries and organizations seeking to intervene in Myanmar's internal affairs."