DHAKA: Myanmar may release scores of political prisoners this month to fulfil a promise by its reformist president to free prisoners of conscience by the end of this year.

A member of a state-appointed panel said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.

A 19-member committee set up by president Thein Sein to identify the political prisoners has recommended 63 people be freed and the move could be imminent, Nyan Win, a former prisoner and member of the panel, told media.

Such a release would be in line with the guarantee Thein Sein made during a visit to Britain in July and add weight to Myanmar’s promises that its political reforms are genuine and not superficial, as many critics have said.

By the end of Myanmar’s five decades of military rule in 2011, the number of political prisoners was estimated to be as high as 2,500, with activists, journalists, politicians and even comedians and artists behind bars, often in brutal conditions.

BDST: 1640 HRS, NOV 06, 2013
RoR/GCP