Myanmar junta offers to drop charges against peaceful protesters
Bangkok, Aug 6 (EFE).- Myanmar’s military junta, which has been in power since the Feb. 1 coup, has offered to withdraw charges against people who participated in peaceful protests or strikes against the regime, state media said on Friday.
State-run daily Global New Light of Myanmar reported that for those who fulfilled the necessary conditions and wanted to avail the offer, “lawsuits will be withdrawn under the law” once they contacted nearby police stations, government offices or called on a list of numbers provided for the purpose.
The announcement clarified that the amnesty would not be granted to those who had been charged with crimes such as murders, robberies, arson, attacks against security forces or “deeply participating” in the civil disobedience movement.
The movement had resulted in strikes joined by thousands of public sector workers across the country and paralyzed the banking, health, educational and industrial sectors, taking the public sector to the brink of collapse.
The protest movement against the military, which began at a small scale but gathered steam over the weeks, has been brutally suppressed by government forces, which opened fire on protesters and have killed more than 945 people according to the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners.
More than 7,000 people have been arrested under different charges, with the most high-profile detainee being ousted state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who faces a series of serious charges that could send her to prison for long durations.
Many ministers of the overthrown government have also been arrested.
On Sunday, military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing promised to hold democratic elections before August 2023 and again justified seizing power over alleged fraud in the November 2020 elections, in which Suu Kyi’s party had registered a landslide. EFE
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