Myanmar junta to free 7,000 prisoners to mark independence day: spokesman

Naypyidaw: Myanmar will free more than 7,000 prisoners to mark the 75th anniversary of its independence from Britain, the junta said on Wednesday, without specifying whether the amnesty would include those jailed as part of a crackdown on dissent.

"Altogether 7,012 prisoners will be pardoned to mark the 75th anniversary of Independence Day," junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP.