Myanmar Release Jailed Soldiers for Killing Rohingyas

Yangon, MINA – Myanmar released seven jailed soldiers for killing 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys during 2017 military crackdown in western Rakhine state on Monday. The release was made earlier than their term of detention.

Accordig to Republika online, they are two prison officials, two former inmates and one of the soldiers who demanded all their names to be anonymized.

The two former prisoners said the two soldiers were released in November last year, which meant they were serving less than 10 years in prison for the murders at Inn Din village.

They also served a prison sentence less than sentence obtained by two Reuters journalists who revealed the murder.

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Journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, spent more than 16 months behind bars on charges of obtaining state secrets. Both were released amnesty on May 6.

Chief guard at Sittwe Sakhwe Rakhine Prison, Win Naing and a senior prison official in the capital, Naypyitaw, confirmed that the convicted soldiers were not in jail for several months.

“Their sentences were reduced by the military,” said senior Naypyitaw official who declined to be named.

However, the two prison officials refused to provide further details. The two also said that they did not know the exact date of the release, which was not publicly announced. Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun and Tun Tun Nyi still declined to comment.

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Seven convicted soldiers are the only security personnel that military says have sentenced them to 2017 operations on Rakhine. For this incident, more than 730 thousand Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh. (T/Sj/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)