Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) has urged the population and the international community to increase pressure to force the junta to unconditionally release all political prisoners. Following the regime’s amnesty on Thursday that saw the release of some prominent political prisoners, acting president Duwa Lashi La said the releases were a result of pressure. “But there are thousands of political prisoners, including President U Win Myint and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Many have been tortured and there are daily arrests,” he said. “The regime’s amnesty could be seen as an act of compassion and mercy but it’s really an attempt to reduce the pressure,” he said. The regime released a National League for Democracy minister, party spokesman Dr Myo Nyunt, former student leader Ko Mya Aye and an anti-regime activist Buddhist monk among almost 6,000 prisoners on Thursday, reports The Irrawaddy. Others released include Australian economist Sean Turnell, a former adviser to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, former British envoy Vicky Bowman and her husband Htein Linn, who is a citizen of Myanmar, and Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota.
