Myanmar releases 6,000 prisoners in mass amnesty, including British, Australian and Japanese citizens

Myanmar’s military government has released almost 6,000 prisoners under mass amnesty, including an ex-British diplomat, an Australian economist and a Japanese documentary maker, to mark its National Day.

The military junta, which overthrew the democratically elected government in a 2021 coup, said it will grant pardons to the foreign nationals, including Australian economist Sean Turnell, former UK ambassador Vicky Bowman, Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota and a US citizen, state media confirmed.

The move represented a rare olive branch to the Western countries, many of whom had slapped sanctions on the southeast Asian country following an unprecedented coup last year.