Prisoner amnesty granted in recognition of opening of Union Peace Conference

24 May 2017
Prisoner amnesty granted in recognition of opening of Union Peace Conference
Hla Phone (C), who was accused of insulting Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and sentenced to serve time in prison, talks to media after he was released from Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar, 24 May 2017. Photo: Thura/Mizzima

As a gesture to welcome the Union Peace Conference– 21st Century Panglong a prisoner amnesty has been granted to 186 Myanmar citizens according to an announcement in state media.
According to the announcement the amnesty was granted, ‘. . . in order to understand the Metta (Loving Kindness) and Goodwill of the State,in order to be able to work with the People for one’sown benefit, for the benefit of the region and for the benefit of the State, as a gesture of showing leniency for humanitarian reason.’
The amnesty applied to 186 Myanmar nationals and 73 foreign nationals who were serving sentences in various prisons.