Myanmar's junta has freed a former minister in the ousted government of Aung Sang Suu Kyi and a well-known writer among political detainees given amnesty to mark the country's independence day, according to relatives and media.
State broadcaster MRTV said on Wednesday that 7,012 prisoners were due to be released under the amnesty, although it did not provide further details on the inmates.
Thura Aung Ko, a former government minister, and Htin Lin Oo, an author and official in Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, as well as some student leaders, activists and journalists, were freed.
