Myanmar junta to release 700 prisoners from Yangon's Insein jail

Yangon's Insein jail

Myanmar's authorities will free around 700 prisoners from Yangon's Insein jail on Wednesday, prison chief Zaw Zaw told Reuters, in a release that is expected to include some of the thousands of people detained for opposing military rule. The prison chief said he did not have a list of those being released, but BBC Burmese language news reported it would include people accused of incitement after speaking out against the coup. A crowd of people gathered ahead of the release outside the Insein prison, a colonial-era jail on the outskirts of the commercial hub of Yangon, photographs on social media showed. The Myanmar Now news portal reported that across the country about 2,000 prisoners would be released. A prisons department official declined to comment.