Myanmar’s ex-president Win Myint freed after pardon of post-coup convictions

email: online@newsofbahrain.com 

Yangon: Former Myanmar president Win Myint, detained since a 2021 coup, was freed on April 17 after being pardoned of convictions handed down during the post-putsch period of military rule.

Win Myint served as president starting in 2018, with Myanmar in the midst of a decade-long experiment with civilian rule that was abruptly halted by the coup.

While he occupied the top spot, it functioned as a ceremonial role following the lead of de facto government head Aung San Suu Kyi, who was barred from holding the presidency under a military-drafted Constitution.

Suu Kyi, the octogenarian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, remains detained, serving a 27-year sentence that rights groups decry as a politically motivated move to hobble her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Her lawyer said the sentence had been cut by one-sixth, or around 4½ years, but it remained unclear whether she would be allowed to serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest.

“The President has pardoned Win Myint,” said a statement from the office of President Min Aung Hlaing – who ordered the coup detaining Win Myint. The latter was convicted of a host of crimes that critics say were politically motivated.

Dr Myo Nyunt, spokesman for the NLD, which was dissolved after the coup, told AFP he had visited the former president at his daughter’s house in the capital Naypyitaw and that he was “in good health”.