Myanmar’s ruling junta announced Thursday it would release 700 prisoners, including a former British diplomat, a Japanese journalist and an Australian adviser to the ousted government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Former British ambassador Vicky Bowman, who served from 2002 to 2006, and her husband, Burmese artist Htein Lin, a former political prisoner, both arrested in August for violating immigration laws, were sentenced to one year in prison. They were released, we found out on Thursday.
Counselor sentenced to three years in prison
Australian economic adviser Sean Turnell, an Australian economics professor, was working as an adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi when he was arrested days after the military coup in February 2021.
He was sentenced in September to three years in prison for violating the Official Secrets Law.
Finally, the 26-year-old Japanese journalist Toru Kubota, arrested in July on the sidelines of an anti-junta demonstration in Rangoon, was sentenced to ten years in prison.
The fourth foreigner is a Burmese with a US passport, according to an official source.
Source: BFM TV
