Myanmar's military regime plans to release about 11,000 prisoners ahead of November elections, enabling them to vote in the rare polls, officials said Sunday.
"We have plans to release some prisoners who are soon to complete their sentence," an official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "We will reduce their sentence and release them in the coming days so that they can vote on the election day."
These included detainees whose sentences would already be over by polling day, as well as some early releases.
"The number could be more as we are still listing them," he added, without saying when the releases would begin.
There are usually more than 50,000 convicted criminals in Myanmar's 43 prisons and 100 labour sites at any one time, as well as about 6,000 awaiting trial, according to the privately-owned but state-censored Myanmar Times.
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