YANGON — Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing issued a pardon order granting amnesty to more than 4,500 prisoners and reducing the sentences of others to mark the traditional new year. State-run MRTV television reported that 4,335 prisoners were pardoned and that nearly 180 foreign nationals would be released and deported.

Under the measures, death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment, life sentences were reduced to 40 years, and prison terms of less than 40 years were cut by one-sixth. According to the terms of their release, prisoners who reoffend must serve the remainder of their original sentences in addition to any new sentences.

Aung San Suu Kyi's 27-year sentence was reduced by one-sixth, equivalent to 4 1/2 years. She is serving the sentence on charges her allies describe as politically motivated. Former president Win Myint, who has been detained since the 2021 coup, was also granted a pardon and had his remaining sentences reduced under specified conditions.

The amnesty was issued one week after Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president. In his inauguration address, he said, "Myanmar has returned to the path of democracy and is heading towards a better future." He said his government would implement amnesties that contribute to social reconciliation, justice and peace and support the country's overall development.

Amnesties in Myanmar are routinely granted on major national occasions such as Independence Day in January and the traditional New Year in April. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, some 22,170 political detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi, remained jailed as of the amnesty, and more than 30,000 people have been detained on political charges since the 2021 coup.

Relatives and friends of prisoners waited outside the main gate at Insein Prison in the northern outskirts of Yangon since morning. "My brother has been imprisoned for a political case. I am hoping that he might be included in today's release. We cannot expect much because he wasn't included in previous pardons." Aung Htet Naing said.

Many political detainees have been held on incitement charges, a law used to arrest critics of the government or military and punishable by up to three years in prison. Other detainees have been prosecuted under a counterterrorism law that carries a potential death penalty and has been used against political and armed opponents, journalists and other dissenters.

The 2021 army takeover was met with nonviolent resistance that has since become a civil war. Nearly 8,000 civilians have been killed in Myanmar since the takeover.