Three pastors reportedly were among the thousands of people freed from Myanmar's prisons last week though more remain imprisoned for their involvement against the coup staged by the military forces.
CBN News said the three Kachin Baptist Convention pastors that were freed by the military last October 18 included Koshan Singsar, Z Kaw Htinah, and M Hawng Di who were arrested in March at Putao District's Naungmoon township. The three pastors were arrested for organizing prayer rallies for peace, which was deemed as a protest against the coup.
The said pastors are actually waiting for their trial though they have received amnesty "out of respect for humanitarian cause" in line with the Lightning Festival from the Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The Lightning Festival is traditionally celebrated in Myanmar in October every full moon of Thadingyut, which marks the Buddhist Lent's last day.
As reported previously, the military staged a coup on February 1, 2021 due to alleged fraudulent results in the November elections that led to the National League for Democracy's 75-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi winning. All the top government officials were abducted by the military as they took over Myanmar's governance. The military then started arresting Christians and other citizens against their uprising after that. This led to the bloody deaths of many civilians that peaked to more than 100 in a day by end of March.
There were a total of 5,600 prisoners released the military government along with the pastors. The pastors were said to have escaped from three years' of imprisonment since the charges imposed on them involved "incitement to cause fear, spreading false news and agitating for criminal offences against government employees" in Myanmar's penal code, as per the Barnabas Fund. But the pastors received the amnesty among with 4,320 people who were said to be on trial, of which 1,316 were released in time for the festival.
Despite the release, which happened three days after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations did not allow Hlaing to attend the upcoming October 26 summit, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) doubted the "humanitarian" reasons for the amnesty.
The AAPP told CBN News last Monday that they found the release as "a form of distraction for the foreign governments" monitoring the political prisoners' arrests. The Association pointed out that the top government officials the military abducted in February should have been released as well.
"If the junta wanted to make concessions, state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and all political prisoners would be released unconditionally and the democratically elected leaders reinstalled," AAPP said.
Similarly, United Nationals special rapporteur for Myanmar's human rights situation Tom Andrews said that the release was merely out of "pressure" considering the military government continues to have civilians arbitrarily arrested. Andrews pointed out that the military government do not show a change in its direction.
"The junta is releasing political prisoners in Myanmar not because of a change of heart, but because of pressure," Andrews said.
Hlaing, Myanmar's Commander-In-Chief, declared himself the country's prime minister in August. The ASEAN banned him from the summit since his promised peace plan in April have not progressed as of date.
