YANGON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's President U Min Aung Hlaing granted amnesty to over 4,500 prisoners on Friday, the first day of the Myanmar calendar New Year, state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television reported.
The president granted amnesty to 4,335 Myanmar prisoners and 179 foreign prisoners in separate orders on New Year's Day, the report said.
The amnesty, to mark Myanmar's traditional New Year's Day, is intended to bring peace and humanity to the public and enable the pardoned individuals to participate in nation-building, it said.
The orders stated that if any of the pardoned individuals reoffend, they will be required to serve both the new sentence and the remainder of their previous sentence. Meanwhile, the foreign prisoners were pardoned and expelled from the country.
In a separate order, the president also reduced the sentences of some prisoners jailed across the country, including reducing death sentences to life imprisonment, life imprisonment and sentences over 40 years to 40-year terms, and sentences of 40 years or less by one-sixth.
Last year, over 4,900 prisoners were granted amnesty on Myanmar's traditional New Year's Day. ■