On Tuesday, Myanmar’s State Administration Council granted pardons to over 7,000 prisoners and reduced sentences for former State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and former President U Win Myint.

This is according to the council’s orders on Tuesday.

The council said six sentences for Ms Suu Kyi and four years for Mr Myint were also reduced.

The council also remitted sentences for 7,749 Myanmar prisoners and 125 foreign prisoners while commuting death sentences for some prisoners to life imprisonment.

In addition, the council remitted the sentence for 22 members of the ethnic armed groups and also dismissed the cases related to 72 individuals who were in connection with ethnic armed groups.

The council said the moves on Dhammacakka Day, an important Buddhist day that falls on the full moon of the second Waso lunar month of the Myanmar calendar, aimed to please the public on humanitarian grounds.

It added that the pardons were granted in view of ethnic unity and internal peace and given relations between the respective countries and Myanmar.

On May 3, Myanmar also pardoned more than 2,000 prisoners in an amnesty to mark Vesak Day.

(Xinhua/NAN)