 Myanmar started releasing nearly 70 political prisoners Tuesday, just days after the president promised during a European tour to free all who remain behind bars by the end of the year. "A total of 73 political prisoners are being released from various detention centers today," Hla Maung Shwe, a member of the Committee to Scrutinise Remaining Political Prisoners, told Reuters. An official at the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, a pro-democracy activist group, confirmed the release of several dozen political prisoners, but said the group was still collecting names.
– Following up on a promise made while in Europe, Burma's president is reportedly setting 73 political prisoners free today, adding to hundreds already let go. "The total number of remaining political prisoners has now dropped to lower than 100 for the first time in many years," says an official. President Thein Sein has pledged to release all the country's political prisoners by year's end. Different organizations offer different figures as to how many remain, Reuters notes; the AP puts the number at around 200 before today's releases, with 69 released today, according to an official. The country has a 19-member committee to determine which prisoners are in jail over politics and which have committed non-political crimes. The committee includes 10 ex-political prisoners. But activists say the president is releasing people too slowly and for image reasons—and protesters are still getting arrested. "It's important to remember that many still remain in prison and all the repressive laws that put them there are still in place," notes one.