The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Myanmar releases ex-U.K. ambassador, Australian aide to Suu Kyi from prison

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Updated November 17, 2022 at 10:09 a.m. EST|Published November 16, 2022 at 11:45 p.m. EST
A man looks out from a window as people search for their relatives on a bus carrying inmates released from Insein Prison on Thursday in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP)
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Myanmar’s junta has released a wave of prisoners, including an Australian aide to former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a former British ambassador to the Southeast Asian country, in what authorities described as an amnesty to mark a national holiday on Thursday.

The military government, which took power in a 2021 coup that deposed Suu Kyi’s democratically elected administration, freed Australian economist Sean Turnell, Briton Vicky Bowman, Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota and American Kyaw Htay Oo, the state-run MRTV News channel said. The four will reportedly be deported.