Burmese junta plans to release more than 7,000 prisoners to mark the country’s 75th anniversary of independence after what looked like a show of force in the capital after a military parade and days after former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to 33 total years in prison.
At dawn, tanks, rocket launchers and armored vehicles roamed the capital’s streets and launched a military parade, AFP correspondents noted.
Officials and high school students followed the soldiers, accompanied by a military band, and according to state media, 750 “peace” doves were released to mark the occasion.
Later Wednesday, the junta announced it would release 7,012 prisoners on the anniversary, without specifying whether the amnesty would include people detained as part of the crackdown on dissidents.
When asked by AFP whether detained Aung San Suu Kyi would now be placed under house arrest as part of the announcement, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun did not reply.
In a speech to the military, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, without naming them, accused countries of “interfering in Burma’s internal affairs” since the February 2021 coup.
He also explained that the army is currently meeting with political parties to discuss the “proportional electoral system” without further details.
The Burmese junta, which recently completed a series of closed trials against Aung San Suu Kyi, is preparing for new elections scheduled later this year, which the United States has previously described as a “sham.”
Experts say the junta could abandon the first-past-the-post system that Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), used to win landslide majorities in 2015 and 2020.
The army had justified its coup by claiming that it had discovered millions of irregular ballots in the last vote, which international observers took to be universally free.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, a close ally and arms supplier to the Burmese military junta, sent his “warm greetings” and predicted the “future development” of their relationship.
Cut off from the rest of the world, the Burmese junta had deemed Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine “justified”.
protest
Much of this Southeast Asian country has been plagued by clashes between the junta and local militias who have taken up arms against the military since the coup.
Previously, Myanmar’s National Day was marked by many festive gatherings in parks and public squares across the country.
Burma, a former British colony, declared its independence on January 4, 1948 after a long struggle led by General Aung San, father of Aung San Suu Kyi.
But since the 2021 military coup, holiday celebrations have been severely reduced, with people staying home in protest at the junta.
AFP correspondents have noted a strengthening of security in Yangon, the country’s trade hub which has been hit by a spate of bombings in recent months.
The US embassy on Wednesday warned of a “possible increase in attacks, targeted fires or explosions”.
Ahead of the 75th anniversary of independence, the junta bestowed hundreds of prizes and medals on its supporters, including Ashin Wirathu, an extremist Buddhist monk known for his role in inciting religious hatred in the country, particularly against the Rohingya Muslim minority is.
Ashin Wirathu, dubbed “Buddhist bin Laden” by the US weekly Time after deadly communal riots, was awarded the title “Thiri Pyanchi” on Tuesday for his “extraordinary work for the benefit of the Union of Burma”.
After Ashin Wirathu was jailed by Aung San Suu Kyi’s government for “seditious remarks”, he was released by the military junta, which dropped all charges against him.