Military-ruled Myanmar is set to release four foreigners as part of a mass amnesty to mark the country’s National Victory Day, local media reported on Thursday.

Australian economic professor Sean Turnell, former British ambassador Vicky Bowman and her husband Ko Htein Lin as well as Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota are among those to be released from prison, The Irrawaddy News reported.

There was initially no confirmation of the information.

Turnell, a former advisor to ousted prime minister Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested shortly after the February 2021 military coup.

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He was sentenced in September to three years in prison for violating the country’s official secrets law and immigration law.

Bowman and her husband were both sentenced to a year in prison in early September, while Kubota was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison for sedition and violations of communications and immigration laws.

Myanmar has been in political turmoil since the coup.

The military has violently cracked down on pro-democracy protests and civil society groups as it seeks to quash armed resistance by anti-junta militias across the country. (dpa/NAN)