Myanmar junta to release over 6,000 prisoners in annual amnesty

Relatives celebrate with a man after he was released during an annual amnesty to mark Myanmar's independence day outside Insein prison in Yangon on January 4, 2026. [AFP]

Myanmar's junta said on Sunday it would release more than 6,000 prisoners as part of an annual amnesty to mark the country's independence day.

The military has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its February 2021 coup that ended Myanmar's brief democratic experiment and plunged the nation into civil war.