Yangon, April 7

Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi today vowed to press for the release of political prisoners and student activists, hinting that a mass amnesty may be imminent as her government seeks to stamp its mark on power in the former junta-run nation.

Suu Kyi’s administration, stacked full of democracy activists who spent years incarcerated by the military, took power last week, ending nearly half a century of repressive army domination.

In her first statement since assuming a new, broadly-defined role as state counsellor, Suu Kyi said: “I am going to try... for the immediate release of political prisoners, political activists and students facing trial related to politics”.

She did not provide a specific timeline in the statement, which was posted on Facebook.

The routine jailing of dissidents was one of the most egregious acts of the former junta, stirring international outcry and support for Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy movement.

Suu Kyi herself spent about 15 years under house arrest and many current National League for Democracy lawmakers served time in the country’s notorious prisons.

While the quasi-civilian government that replaced the junta in 2011 freed hundreds of political detainees, it also oversaw the detention of scores more, particularly those involved in land and education protests.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 90 political prisoners were in jail and more than 400 activists were facing trial as of February.

The majority were arrested before last November’s landmark elections, which Suu Kyi’s NLD won in a landslide.

Among them are about 40 students facing a mix of charges, including unlawful assembly and rioting over education reform protests in March 2015 that were violently broken up by baton-wielding police in the central town of Letpadan. Another 30 or so students are on bail but facing similar charges.

The students present a special case because while many have been detained for over a year, their trial is ongoing.

To free them, Suu Kyi’s statement indicated that the state prosecutor could decide to drop the charges.