Monday, 10 October 2011 20:59 Tun Tun
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann has told a foreign diplomat that there would be a prisoner release “within a few days,” prompting MPs to hope that political prisoners will be included.
Thura Shwe Mann told visiting Norwegian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, “It will come within a few days,” according to the Norway-based NRK.
Lower House MP Thein Nyunt told Mizzima: “The speaker is a member of the national defense and security council so his words are 100 percent sure.” On August 25, Thein Nyunt put forward a motion to grant amnesty to prisoners of conscience.
The current second regular session of the Burmese Parliament is now in recess and will reconvene on October 17. Many MPs believe the session will end on October 28, and the general amnesty will be granted before that day.
After President Thein Sein entered office, he announced a one-year presidential commutation on May 16. About 20,000 prisoners were released, but only a few were political prisoners.
According to figures compiled by the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma, there are 1,998 political prisoners in 42 prisons and 109 labour camps across Burma.
Daw Shu, the caretaker of political prisoners, said, “Word has gotten around that the prisoners will be freed between October 11 and 24. They will be released in two batches. It’s likely that the prisoners who are serving long prison term will also be released.”
On September 28, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin told the UN General Assembly that prisoners would be released soon.
A few families of political prisoners said the rumor is good, but they will believe the information only after the prisoners are released.
Su Su Kyi, the mother of Thet Thet Aung who is in Myingyan Prison, told Mizzima: “I have not prepared. Only after they are released, will I prepare the beds for them. Otherwise, I will feel weary.”
A family member of student leader D. Nyein Lin who is in Hpaan Prison, said that it was likely that only prisoners serving up to a 15-year prison term would be granted amnesty and political prisoners serving long prison terms might be excluded.
D. Nyein Lin’s mother said: “I want [my son] to be released from prison. But, I don’t expect too much. Even my son is not expecting it. He told me not to be upset if I heard that some political prisoners are released, and he is not on the list.”
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann has told a foreign diplomat that there would be a prisoner release “within a few days,” prompting MPs to hope that political prisoners will be included.
Thura Shwe Mann told visiting Norwegian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, “It will come within a few days,” according to the Norway-based NRK.
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| Burmese prisoners walk out from the main gate of Insein Central Prison in Rangoon as part of a commutation in May 2011. Photo: AFP |
Lower House MP Thein Nyunt told Mizzima: “The speaker is a member of the national defense and security council so his words are 100 percent sure.” On August 25, Thein Nyunt put forward a motion to grant amnesty to prisoners of conscience.
The current second regular session of the Burmese Parliament is now in recess and will reconvene on October 17. Many MPs believe the session will end on October 28, and the general amnesty will be granted before that day.
After President Thein Sein entered office, he announced a one-year presidential commutation on May 16. About 20,000 prisoners were released, but only a few were political prisoners.
According to figures compiled by the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma, there are 1,998 political prisoners in 42 prisons and 109 labour camps across Burma.
Daw Shu, the caretaker of political prisoners, said, “Word has gotten around that the prisoners will be freed between October 11 and 24. They will be released in two batches. It’s likely that the prisoners who are serving long prison term will also be released.”
On September 28, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin told the UN General Assembly that prisoners would be released soon.
A few families of political prisoners said the rumor is good, but they will believe the information only after the prisoners are released.
Su Su Kyi, the mother of Thet Thet Aung who is in Myingyan Prison, told Mizzima: “I have not prepared. Only after they are released, will I prepare the beds for them. Otherwise, I will feel weary.”
A family member of student leader D. Nyein Lin who is in Hpaan Prison, said that it was likely that only prisoners serving up to a 15-year prison term would be granted amnesty and political prisoners serving long prison terms might be excluded.
D. Nyein Lin’s mother said: “I want [my son] to be released from prison. But, I don’t expect too much. Even my son is not expecting it. He told me not to be upset if I heard that some political prisoners are released, and he is not on the list.”
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