ALMOST 7,000 prisoners were released from prison in Myanmar yesterday, including 155 recently jailed Chinese nationals, following a mass presidential pardon.

An Information Ministry statement said 6,966 prisoners, including 210 foreigners, were being freed across the country “on humanitarian grounds and in view of national reconciliation.”

Others freed included former military intelligence officials purged by their army colleagues more than a decade ago, and at least a handful of journalists and activists.

The pardons issued by President Thein Sein were timed to coincide with a Buddhist religious holiday and come ahead of a November general election.

All but two of the Chinese contingent had received life sentences earlier this month in connection with illegal logging in the north of the country, where there has been prolonged ethnic conflict and government repression.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Myanmar authorities had notified Chinese officials that the 155 would be handed over to their custody today.