On Friday, authorities in Myanmar released the country’s ousted president Win Myint as part of a mass prisoner amnesty, while reducing the prison sentence of imprisoned leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

According to a Reuters report that cited the state broadcaster MRTV, President Min Aung Hlaing granted an amnesty to 4,335 prisoners to mark the Thingyan New Year holiday, including 179 ​foreigners, who were set to be deported. An unspecified number of prisoners also had their death sentences commuted to life in prison, life sentences reduced to 40 years, and other prison terms reduced ⁠ by one-sixth, the report added.

As part of the pardon, the authorities also announced a reduction in Aung San Suu Kyi’s 27-year prison sentence, which was imposed for a range of politically-motivated charges, including incitement, corruption, election fraud, and violation of Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act. According to media reports, the sentence will be reduced by “at least four years.” This reduction will make little practical difference for the 80-year-old, although there have also been unverified reports that she will be (or has already been) transferred from prison to house arrest.

Win Myint was elected president in 2018, and served in the role as an effective proxy for Aung San Suu Kyi, because the military-drafted constitution barred her from holding the presidency. She served instead in the bespoke role of state counsellor, in which capacity she was widely recognized as the de facto leader of Myanmar.

The pair were removed from power and imprisoned when the military seized power in February 2021, right before the National League for Democracy (NLD) government was set to be sworn into its second consecutive term in office. While Win Myint was reportedly released on Friday from a prison in Bago Region, Aung San Suu Kyi’s current whereabouts are unknown, and she has not been seen in public since the end of her trials, which were held in tightly controlled circumstances in the capital Naypyidaw. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, nearly 31,000 people have been arrested since the 2021 coup, 22,170 of whom remain in custody.

Also, among those released on Friday was the award-winning filmmaker Shin Daewe, who was sentenced to life imprisonment under a counterterrorism law in January 2024.

The amnesty comes two weeks after Min Aung Hlaing was elected president, following a controversial multi-phase election that was designed to cloak military rule in civilian garb. He was officially sworn in on April 10, after which he promised to prioritize stability and peace, and to “‌enhance ‌international relations and strive to restore normal relations” with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Myanmar state, including the military junta that seized power in 2021, has announced regular prisoner amnesties, often timed to important national holidays. These function as displays of beneficence designed to strengthen their political legitimacy.

The most recent was last month, when the military junta granted pardons to 7,337 prisoners convicted of financing or sheltering “terrorists,” its designation for the various groups opposing its rule. This followed a similar amnesty in late November, which saw the release of 3,085 prisoners convicted of spreading false news and the dropping of charges against another 5,500.

In his inauguration speech on April 10, Min Aung Hlaing said that he would “grant appropriate amnesties to support social reconciliation, justice, and peace.” He also said that his administration would invite back to their posts civil servants who quit in protest after the coup.

The instrumental purpose of these concessions for Min Aung Hlaing is obvious. Like the recent election and the transition to a civilianized form of military rule, they are intended to reinforce the legitimacy of the new administration, manage internal opposition, and send signals of reform to foreign constituencies.

Needless to say, the recent releases are highly conditional on accepting, if not supporting, the new political status quo. Those pardoned in November and March were only released on the proviso that they “will have to serve the new punishment together with the remaining punishment” if they reoffend and are rearrested. It is almost certain that similar strictures apply to last week’s amnesty.

As one analyst told The Irrawaddy, “This is just a show. Nothing will change until Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the ministers, and the central executive committee of the NLD are freed.”