Crowds outside Myanmar’s prisons greet freed detainees

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Crowds have gathered for a second day outside prisons around Myanmar, waiting for at least a glimpse of friends and relatives who are being freed under an amnesty for people arrested for protesting against military rule. The head of the army-installed government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, announced the amnesty covering more than 5,600 people on Monday. State television said it included 1,316 convicts who would be freed from prisons and 4,320 others pending trial whose charges would be suspended. His announcement came three days after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations delivered a rare snub by declining to invite Min Aung Hlaing to an upcoming summit, even though Myanmar is part of the 10-member regional bloc.