Myanmar journalist freed after serving full sentence in Yangon

Having completed his sentence on charges of incitement brought by the junta, Kamayut Media co-founder Hanthar Nyein, who was arrested a month after the military coup of 2021, was reportedly released from Yangon’s Insein Prison on Thursday. Armed junta personnel raided the offices of Kamayut Media on San Yeik Nyein 6 street in Kamayut Township, Yangon in March 2021, detaining Hanthar Nyein and the media company’s editor-in-chief Nathan Maung. An American citizen, Nathan Maung was released and allowed to leave Myanmar in June of that year, with the military dropping charges against him. Hanthar Nyein, on the other hand, remained in junta custody and was charged under Section 505a of the Penal Code, for incitement. To mark Myanmar New Year’s Day on April 17, the military council granted amnesty to more than 4,800 prisoners across Myanmar. Hanthar Nyein, 43, had served his full sentence and was among those freed. Sources from the prison and Hanthar Nyein’s friends confirmed his release. Kamayut Media co-founder Hanthar Nyein In a statement issued this afternoon, the Political Prisoners Network-Myanmar (PPNM) said 22 of the people released were political prisoners serving time in Pakokku, Magway Region; Pyay and Paungde, Bago Region; Dawei, Tanintharyi Region; and Nyaung-U, Mandalay Region. According to initial observations by the PPNM, the military council’s amnesty today included few political prisoners, with some prisons releasing none at all. According to data collected by the group, only around five percent of political prisoners have been affected by the amnesty so far, with an even smaller proportion of detainees charged under Section 505a being granted release or commutation. Many detainees serving long sentences remain behind bars and may only be freed if the military regime falls, said PPNM representative Theik Tun Oo. “The revolution would have to succeed soon to bring freedom to all political prisoners,” he said. “Many are waiting for the day when resistance forces break through the prison gates to liberate them.” The military council announced the release of the 4,800 prisoners—including 13 foreign nationals— on a regime-controlled television network, referencing a statute under section 401(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code authorising the country’s president to commute or suspend convicts’ sentences. According to the announcement, the amnesty also reduced sentences by one-sixth for all prisoners, except those convicted of murder, rape, and various other offences under laws on weapons, narcotics, terrorism, and corruption. The military council has also included only small numbers of political prisoners in amnesties and conditional releases in prior years since the coup. When the military granted amnesty to 3,303 prisoners across Myanmar on April 17 last year, only a few political prisoners were among those released. The amnesty does not apply to many currently incarcerated political prisoners due to their charges under weapons laws. Most people arrested for actions opposing the military dictatorship, including leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party and state counsellor Aung San Su Kyi, were convicted and imprisoned on charges not covered by the amnesty. The Independent Press Council Myanmar (IPCM) released a statement on February 1 of this year, marking the four-year anniversary since the coup, noting that 200 independent journalists had been detained and seven extralegally killed since the military took power in Myanmar. The IPCM also said 40 journalists have been charged and imprisoned unjustly, particularly under Myanmar’s Counterterrorism Law, claiming charges brought against members of the media were a misapplication of the law. The military council has detained 29,030 people as of April 11 this year, with 22,197 remaining detained, according to data collected by the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Among those still incarcerated, 10,769 have been handed prison sentences, according to AAPP reports.

Myanmar journalist freed after serving full sentence in Yangon

Military authorities released Kamayut Media’s Hanthar Nyein and 22 political prisoners in various parts of the country as part of a broader amnesty

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