On August 1st, the Myanmar military granted jailed leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi a partial pardon on five of the 19 offences she was charged with. This will take six years off Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s 33-year jail sentence. Meanwhile, former president Win Myint’s had two of his charges pardoned, reducing his 12-year prison sentence by four years. This was announced after the military’s extension of the state of emergency, and reports also state that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was moved from prison to house arrest in Naypyitaw on July 24th. These partial pardons are seen to be largely symbolic gestures, with a diplomatic source saying that “This is a signal to the international community - without doing anything substantive.” A spokesperson from the National Unity Government (NUG) also reiterated, “This is just a political trick…aimed at relieving pressure.” Meanwhile, Matthew Miller, Spokesperson from the U.S. State Deapartment, said that for the U.S.’s stance against the junta to change, they must immediately release all unjustly detained individuals.
For Myanmar, on July 31st, the military stated that they are going to be extending their state of emergency by six more months since their last extension was expiring on July 31st. They said it was due to continued “unrest” in the country. This extension actually violates the military’s own constitution, which only allows two extensions of six months each. But this is their fourth time extending their state of emergency. according the Myanmar military led by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing declared through state-run media that it was extending the state of emergency in the country for another six months due to continued “unrest”. Although the military had declared a state of emergency for one year when they first seized power on February 1, 2021, they have now extended this four times, each for a period of six months, with the last extension expiring on July 31. A spokesperson for the National Unity Government(NUG) stated that this extension was expected with the junta still trying to annihilate the pro-democracy opposition.
