Myanmar pardons 3,000 prisoners

Myanmar President Thein Sein announced on Tuesday that 3,073 prisoners would be released for the sake of "peace and stability" and the "rule of law."

Most of those released had committed minor crimes. The government's Political Prisoner Scrutiny Committee said at least 13 of the freed inmates were jailed on political offenses, and at least eight were former senior military intelligence officers.

The intelligence officers were detained after the ouster of former intelligence chief and Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, in 2004.

One member of the committee, Ye Aung, said the amnesty appeared to have been timed ahead of a Southeast Asian summit in Myanmar next month. US President Barack Obama and a number of other leaders from outside the region are expected to attend.

Ye Aung, a former prisoner himself, praised the announcement but called for the release of another 75 political prisoners who are still in detention.

President Thein Sein, a former general, has freed more than 1,000 political prisoners since being elected in 2011, after five decades of military rule in Myanmar. Tuesday's amnesty is one of at least a dozen announced by his reformist, quasi-civilian government since taking office.

He has pledged to free all political prisoners by the end of the year, but critics note that citizens continue to be jailed for political offenses under his government.

jr/kms (AP, Reuters)