Vicky Bowman: Former UK ambassador among prisoners freed in Myanmar

Former UK envoy Vicky Bowman and her husband, artist Htein Lin were among those freed (file photo)

Myanmar's military has freed a number of opposition figures, as well as a former UK ambassador, a Japanese filmmaker and an Australian adviser to the country's ousted civilian leader.

The military said some 6,000 pardons were to mark Myanmar National Day.

Ex-diplomat Vicky Bowman and journalist Toru Kubota were jailed earlier this year, while economist Sean Turnell was detained soon after the 2021 coup.

All three have flown out of the country after being deported.

The military has arrested more than 16,000 people since it overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government in February 2021 - sparking huge protests across the country and a widespread resistance movement.

Among those seen leaving Insein prison in Yangon were Myo Nyunt, a former spokesman for her National League for Democracy, and pro-democracy activist Mya Aye.

Mya Aye (centre left) walks free after his release from Insein prison

"I will be together with the Myanmar people no matter what the situation is," Mya Aye told crowds waiting outside the jail.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed the release of Mr Turnell after speaking to him.

Also among those to be released was Kyaw Tint Swe, a former minister and a close aide to Aung San Suu Kyi, state media said. Kyaw Htay Oo, a US-Myanmar citizen, was on the list too, but it was not immediately clear if he was on the same flight to Bangkok as the other foreigners.

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Ms Bowman served as the UK's envoy to Myanmar between 2002 and 2006 and was running the Yangon-based Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) at the time of her arrest.

A fluent Burmese speaker, she is a well-known member of Myanmar's small international community. Her husband Htein Lin, a former political prisoner, was also on the list of those to be freed.

The couple were detained when they returned to the city from a home they have in Shan State. Military authorities charged them both with failing to register her as living at a different address.

However, the case was likely to have been about wider political concerns than immigration offences, for which foreigners are rarely prosecuted in Myanmar.

Crowds waited in the rain to greet the freed prisoners in Yangon

"Thousands of people jailed since the coup in Myanmar have done nothing wrong and should never have been imprisoned in the first place," said Amnesty International's Australia impact director Tim O'Connor, adding that the release should not "deter international focus from the brutality of the Myanmar military's activities since the coup in February 2021".

"Under military rule in Myanmar, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention and secretive, closed-door trials have become routine," he said, calling for "anyone who cannot be charged with a recognisable" crime to be released.

Thousands of other political prisoners remain in detention.

Sean Turnell (left) was convicted of security breaches along with Myanmar's former leader Aung San Suu Kyi (right)

Mr Turnell, meanwhile, was detained in Yangon in February 2021, days after the military launched its coup, and was jailed for three years under the Official Secrets Act.

He was a close adviser of ousted opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who since her overthrow has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison on a range of charges.

At the time, the Australian government said it rejected the court's ruling in Mr Turnell's case, noting their citizen had been tried in a closed military court.

Documentary maker Toru Kobuta, 26, was arrested in July near an anti-government rally in Yangon. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on sedition charges and for violating the electronic communications law. According to Reporters Without Borders, at least 68 journalists were detained in Myanmar before today's amnesty.

Kubota, who first arrived in Myanmar in July, was filming a "documentary featuring a Myanmar person", a friend of his was reported to have said earlier this year.

According to filmmaker site Film Freeway, Kubota started his career when he met a Rohingya refugee in Japan in 2014 and subsequently made "several films about refugees and ethnic issues in Myanmar".

The military in Myanmar has been accused of widespread human rights violations since seizing power. According to monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 2,400 people have been killed by the military since the coup.