Over 2,000 political prisoners are released by the military Junta in Myanmar

 On May 3, the military administration in Myanmar released more than 2,000 political prisoners in honor of a Buddhist festival. Families flocked to prisons to sob with loved ones who had been imprisoned as a result of the military government's widespread crackdown on dissenters and opposition figures.

Since the February 2021 coup that toppled Myanmar's democratically elected government, the military has detained thousands of protesters and activists.

According to a statement from the junta, pardons were given to "2,153 prisoners serving sentences under Penal Code 505 (a)" in honor of Kasone Full Moon Day, a holiday commemorating the birth of the Buddha.

"For the peaceful mind of the people and on humanitarian grounds," the military claimed, it had ordered the pardons.