A Myanmar court on Friday freed dozens of jailed students, in the first wave of detainee releases after Aung San Suu Kyi pledged to make releasing activists and political prisoners the first priority of her new government.
There were jubilant scenes at the sweltering central Myanmar courthouse in Tharrawaddy, as a judge told young activists they could go home more than a year after they were arrested over an education protest that was violently crushed by police in March 2015.
"You 69 are all freed now (from this case) without charge," said township judge Chit Myat, though at least three activists in the group will remain in prison because they face hearings in other courts.
Myanmar has scores of political prisoners languishing in its jails and hundreds of detained activists awaiting trial, despite reforms in recent years as the military loosened its grip on power following half a century of repressive rule.
Suu Kyi said on Thursday she would prioritise releasing activists -- an issue laden with significance for herself and scores of MPs in her party once jailed for democracy activism during the junta era. The statement was not followed by an official amnesty notice from President Htin Kyaw, but families nevertheless crowded at prison gates around the country since early morning hoping to reunite with their loved ones.
Those gathered in Tharrawaddy's dusty courtroom erupted into cheers and song after the judge delivered his statement, while dozens of police looked on. Tearful parents gripped their children in emotional scenes before hurrying to the nearby prison to collect the detainees' belongings.
Some students stopped at a cemetery to pay their respects to the graves of other activists who died in the country's decades-long democracy struggle. "Our release showed that we didn't commit any crime. We suffered in prison for more than one year. We are happy but we want the new government to release all political prisoners immediately," Ei Thinzar Maung, 20, told AFP after her release.
Court officials said they began preparing to release the students shortly after Suu Kyi's statement, which said her government would try to free detainees still on trial by asking the state prosecutor to drop the charges.
No other political prisoners were confirmed as released on Friday, though scores of other detainees were freed from prisons around the country because their sentences were due to end during the upcoming Buddhist new year holiday.
