In the usual practice of releasing prisoners on Myanmar New Year day, the President issued an order which pardoned 24,896 prisoners from prisons, a number equal to more than a total of the incarcerated numbers in the country.
Calls have been growing for a prisoner release in light of fears about the coronavirus spreading in prisons.
This was the largest recorded release in recent years.
The release included Muslims from northern Rakhine State who were imprisoned for breaking the rules by going outside the prescribed area limit.
There are total of 46 prisons and 50 prison labour camps in Myanmar. New York based Human Rights Watch said that though the actual capacity of these prisons and prison labour camps is 66,000, the actual number of inmates is over 92,000.
Over 2,600 prisoners were released today from Yangon’s Insein prison alone. Over 200 prisoners released are those serving prison sentences for going outside their prescribed area limit.
All prisoners released were given 5 pyi rice (approx. 11.5 kg) and other food supplies provided by the government.
By this pardon order, those who are not released today can enjoy the remission to their sentences. Death sentences are commuted to life prison term, those who are serving over 40 years prison sentences are commuted to 40 years.
The release comes as governments around the world - including the US, parts of Europe, and Colombia - grapple with overcrowded prisons as fears spiral of virus outbreaks behind bars.
As news of the amnesty spread, crowds defied a new ban on gatherings of five or more people to assemble outside Yangon's notorious Insein prison, hoping to see their family members freed.
As buses brought the newly-released through the prison gates, cheers erupted with people waving flowers and reaching to grasp the hands of relatives leaning out of the bus windows.
Wearing a mask, Ei Nge told AFP she came to the prison as soon as she heard about the amnesty.
"I'm not even thinking about coronavirus. I just really want to see my son."
So far Myanmar has officially confirmed 85 cases of COVID-19, including four deaths, but experts fear the real number is many times higher because of the low numbers being tested.
The country is under a nationwide lockdown and there had been growing pressure to release inmates from what Human Rights Watch (HRW) branded "horribly overcrowded and unsanitary" jails.
The president's office said 87 foreigners included in the amnesty would be deported.
By Friday afternoon the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said it only had confirmation of the release of 12 of 76 prisoners of conscience, but the group was holding out hope for the others.
Last year's amnesty included the high-profile cases of two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who spent more than 500 days behind bars over their reporting on the 2017 Rohingya crisis.
Additional reporting by AFP
