Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing Pardons Win Myint and Commutes All Death Sentences

Myanmar's new President Min Aung Hlaing pardoned former president Win Myint and commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment on Friday as part of a traditional Thingyan New Year amnesty, while Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remained in detention despite a partial reduction of her 27-year sentence. The amnesty, announced on April 17, 2026, covered according to state television MRTV, including 179 foreign nationals who will be deported. Win Myint, who served as Myanmar's president from 2018 until the February 1, 2021 military coup, had been held for more than five years on charges his allies described as politically motivated. Min Aung Hlaing, who led that coup as military chief and was sworn in as civilian president on April 10 following elections widely criticized abroad, framed the pardons as part of an effort for "national reconstruction."

Suu Kyi's sentence trimmed, but freedom denied Aung San Suu Kyi, 80, saw her 27-year sentence reduced by one-sixth under the general amnesty provision applying to all sentences of less than 40 years, according to a source close to the process cited by AFP. The reduction amounts to four and a half years, according to reporting by Courrier International. She remains held at an undisclosed location and has not been seen in public since the conclusion of her trials. Her son, Kim Aris, told Reuters in interviews last year that he had received only limited updates about her condition and that her health was declining. The charges against her — ranging from incitement and corruption to election fraud and violating a state secrets law — were dismissed by her allies as "absurd" and politically motivated. National League for Democracy members and thousands of activists remain among those detained since the coup. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, responded to the amnesty by demanding more.

„All those unjustly detained since the 2021 coup — including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi — must be released immediately and unconditionally.” — Volker Türk via Notícias ao Minuto

Death row inmates spared, thousands of families wait outside prisons Min Aung Hlaing announced that all prisoners serving death sentences would have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment, and all life sentences reduced to 40 years. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has said more than 30,000 people have been imprisoned on political charges since the 2021 coup, making the scale of the amnesty modest relative to the total detained population. According to the United Nations, more than 130 people were sentenced to death after the junta took power, though precise figures are difficult to establish given what sources described as an opaque judicial system in a country torn by civil war. Outside Insein prison in Yangon, families gathered in intense heat on Friday morning to learn whether their relatives would be among those freed. Journalist and documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment — later reduced to 15 years — for alleged complicity in terrorism, was released and described reuniting with her family.

„The greatest joy is being able to reunite with my family. I was lucky today. But that is not the case for many of my friends who remained inside.” — Shin Daewe via La Libre.be

Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw, seized power on February 1, 2021, detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint in the early hours of the coup. The takeover ended a decade of partial democratic transition and plunged the country into a civil war that has displaced more than 3.5 million people, according to Reuters. Human rights groups say the junta resumed executions of dissidents after decades without carrying out capital punishment. The Thingyan New Year amnesty is one of several traditional occasions in Myanmar when pardons are customarily granted, alongside Independence Day in January.

China's role in Win Myint's release draws analyst scrutiny The release of Win Myint drew attention beyond Myanmar's borders, with analysts cited by The Irrawaddy suggesting that China played a role in securing the pardon. According to the Burmese exile news outlet, an analyst described the elections held in December and January as "the result of an agreement between Xi Jinping and Min Aung Hlaing," with Win Myint's release forming part of that arrangement. Min Aung Hlaing, 69, was elected president by parliament on April 3 and inaugurated on April 10, formalizing his hold on power after ruling under various military titles since the coup. At his inauguration, he stated that peace, stability, and reconciliation were his priorities. The amnesty marked the third such release in six months, following a November pardon covering and a January Independence Day release of more than 6,000 prisoners. Those pardoned under conditional terms face a stipulation that any new offense will result in serving the remainder of the original sentence in addition to any new conviction, according to the Mizzima News Agency.

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