NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar’s military leaders have granted amnesty to Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and former adviser to democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, and almost 6,000 other prisoners to mark a national holiday.
Former British envoy Vicky Bowman and her husband were among those to be released, along with US citizen Kyaw Htay Oo and Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota.
Myanmar has been in the political turmoil since the military staged coup in February last year, arresting civilian leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi in the early morning raids.
The coup sparked widespread protests that were often violently shut down, leading to the arrests of thousands and helping fuel armed resistance among some of the Southeast Asian nation’s many ethnic groups. –Agencies
