Britain's former ambassador to Myammar who had been jailed alongside her husband earlier this year, is one of 6,000 people set to be released in a mass so-called amnesty.
Vicky Bowman, who was the British ambassador in the secretive county between 2002 and 2006, was arrested and charged alongside husband Htein Lin when the couple were accused of violating immigration laws.
State-run media in the south-east Asian country said foreigner prisoners who were released would be deported, although it is not clear what has happened to Ms Bowman or her husband.
The unprecedented large release of prisoners is said to have been timed to coincide with Myammar National Day which takes place today, Thursday, November 17.
The country's military seized back power in a coup on February 1, 2021 and has arrested thousands of people, targeting anyone it suspects of opposing its rule, from nurses and teachers to social media stars and journalists.
Ms Bowman and Mr Lin were arrested in September amid a period of unrest with political and economic chaos spreading throughout the country.
They were each sentenced to one year in prison, according to the BBC and Associated Press.
Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for campaigns, Ming Yu Hah, described news of their conviction as extremely concerning.
She said: “Myanmar’s military has a notorious track record of arresting and jailing people on politically motivated or trumped-up charges."
Mr Lin is one of Myanmar's most respected artists and an activist and he previously spent over six years from 1998 in prison for his opposition to an earlier junta.
He shares a a young daughter, named Aurora, with the former ambassador.
He is one of thousands of dissidents who have been arrested or detained as the military is fighting and committing grave atrocities.
One Myanmar soldier admitted to burning an innocent girl alive in harrowing confessions to the BBC.
One soldier says he joined the military for the money but was shocked by being forced to rape, torture and kill civilians.
Following Ms Bowman's arrest the British government announced a new round of sanctions, saying that Myanmar’s military-linked companies are facing the action “in an effort to limit the military’s access to arms and revenue”.
At the time Minister for Asia Amanda Milling said: "We continue to stand in solidarity with the Rohingya people and condemn the Myanmar Armed Forces’ horrific campaign of ethnic cleansing."
Last month, Pete Vowles, Britain’s ambassador to Myanmar announced he had been expelled by the junta for refusing to legitimise the regime by presenting his credentials.
Ms Bowman's release has not yet been confirmed by independent sources.
