Most of the prisoners had been convicted of common criminal offenses, according to a lawyer representing political prisoners.
The Burmese junta pardoned nearly 10,000 prisoners on Thursday to mark the 76th anniversary of Burma’s independence.
The prisoner releases began Thursday and are expected to last several days. At Insein Prison in Yangon – known for decades for housing political detainees – relatives of prisoners gathered at the gates from early morning.
Nearly 3,000 prisoners were released there, including some political detainees. No complete list of those released is available.
A lawyer who represents many political prisoners told The Associated Press that most of those released across the country had been convicted of common criminal offenses and that only about 120 were political prisoners.
