Myanmar plans to free 3000 prisoners before polls

Yangon, Oct 11: Myanmar's government is planning to release around 3,000 prisoners to allow them to vote in next month's election, official said on Monday, Oct 11.

The government would release those prisoners whose terms were due to end in Nov or Dec, but it was not known what crimes they were convicted of or whether any were political detainees.

At present more than 2,200 activists are currently in detention in Myanmar, but the government insists that it has no political detainees in any of its 43 prisons or 100 labour camps.

"Necessary preparations are under way and about 3,000 prisoners are expected to be freed," the prison department official said.

"As far as I know, there is a plan to reduce the prison terms of the inmates by up to 30 days with the intent to enable them to vote in the upcoming elections," he added.

OneIndia News