Breaking: Unserious - Partial Pardon to Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi (*hint: will serve 27 years in jail, not full 33 years)
Naypyidaw 5.22pm / DC 6.52am
Army (Burmese / Myanmar junta) spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun (Burmese: ဇော်မင်းထွန်း, also spelt Zaw Min Htun) says a total of 6 years had been reduced from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates 1991 Aung San Suu Kyi’s 33-year jail term This means 78-year-old Suu Kyi will serve 27 years in jail. Over 7,700 prisoners also freed.
Today (Aug 1st) is the start of Buddhist Lent - on such occasions, prisoner pardons could be granted. Over 2,100 were freed during last Buddhist Kasong Day 2022.
Aung San Suu Kyi was pardoned for 5 of her charges including offences against natural disaster, telecom laws.
National Unity Governance (NUG) Myanmar spokesperson said “it’s a dirty political play by SAC. DASSK (Daw Aung San Suu Kyi ——She is sometimes addressed as Daw Suu or Amay Suu ("Mother Suu") by her supporters) & U WM (President Win Myint) must be released unconditionally as they were arbitrarily detained in first place. All other political prisoners also must be freed.”
Burma / Myanmar army to keep extending state of emergency until 2025 By then, population census would have completed, paving way for polls. Plus, the 5-year GE2020 validity would be up.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD) swept the 2015 elections, held as part of tentative military reforms.
It went on to win the next elections in November 2020 by a landslide, but the military alleged fraud and said it had to seize power to investigate the complaints.
The coup plunged Myanmar into chaos, with security forces using lethal force against peaceful protesters and spawning an armed struggle against their rule. More than 3,800 people have been killed in the crackdown, according to a local monitoring group.
Fighting between the military and civilian militias has also displaced more than 1.6 million people across the country.
Many governments, particularly in the West, have called for the unconditional release of Ms Suu Kyi and thousands of other political prisoners.
Thailand's foreign minister said last month he had met her in a private meeting, the first foreign official to be granted access to her since her detention.
Don Pramudwinai said she was in good health and supported dialogue to help resolve her country's crisis.
Ousted former PM Thai Thaksin Sinawatra arguably has a better relationship with Junta if compare other ASEAN Leaders with Junta Burma / Junta Myanmar.
5 Days ago (July 27), protesters downtown Bangkok highlighting problem of ex-PM Thaksin saying he's set to return home Aug 10. They say he's privileged as many other political exiles can't come home. Many afraid his return will further shake up politics.
May 9 or 4 days before Thai Election (May 13), Thaksin says willing back to home (to Bangkok). "I am seeking permission again. I have decided to come home to see my grandchildren (Thasin — without “K”) within July, before my birthday (Thaksin was born July 26th, 1949 in San Kamphaeng, Chiang Mai, Thailand)," Thaksin’s statement via Twitter, May 9th, 2023.
Pita Limjaroenrat, winner of Thai Election but failed to be PM, reiterated his party's (Move Forward) push to reform royal defamation laws and also said (because intention Pita to create a coalition with Paetongtarn Shinawatra) former PM Thaksin Shinawatra (Paetongtarn’d father) has a right to return to Thailand from exile and face a fair trial and legal system.
Thaksin Shinawatra will be treated as an elderly prisoner if he returns to Thailand to face his jail term, according to the Department of Corrections.
One diplomatic source described Tuesday's Burma Myanmar pardons as a "cosmetic move".
"This is a signal to the international community — without doing anything substantive," said the source who declined to be identified.
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