New Myanmar President Htin Kyaw arrives for a dinner reception following a swearing-in ceremony in Naypyidaw on March 30, 2016. Myanmar entered a new era on March 30 as Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy movement took power after 50 years of military domination, with a close aide of the Nobel laureate sworn in as president. Htin Kyaw, a school friend and confidant of the democracy champion, succeeds former general Thein Sein, who ushered in reforms that transformed Myanmar from a repressive hermit state to a nation full of hope. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / YE AUNG THU
YANGON: Myanmar President Htin Kyaw (pic) signed a pardon for 83 prisoners on the country’s New Year day, his office said in a statement Sunday, though it was not immediately clear if the amnesty included political prisoners.
Htin Kyaw was tapped earlier this year to become the country’s first civilian leader in decades by Aung San Suu Kyi, the veteran democracy activist who still controls the administration but is barred from the presidency by a junta-era charter. Her National League for Democracy (NLD), which is packed full of former political prisoners jailed for their activism under military rule, ended nearly half a century of army domination when they took power in a historic transition in March.
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