Chinese loggers look out from the bus window after being freed from Myitgyina Jail, July 30, 2015. The Myanmar government on Thursday granted an amnesty to 6,966 prisoners including 155 detained Chinese loggers. (Xinhua/Myitkyinabrang)
A group of 155 Chinese jailed for illegal logging in Myanmar will be handed over to China on Friday as part of a massive amnesty in the country, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Myanmar informed China of the plan on Thursday morning, said ministry spokesperson Hong Lei at a routine press conference.
The Myanmar government on Thursday granted an amnesty to 6,966 prisoners, including 210 foreigners. Under the terms of the amnesty, all 210 foreign prisoners will be deported from Thursday, "with a view to maintaining friendship and ties with related countries."
"We attach high importance to the measures taken by Myanmar," Hong said.
On July 22, the Myitkyina district court in northern Myanmar's Kachin State sentenced the loggers to more than 10 years in prison for violating a 1963 law against destroying public property.
"We maintained close communication with the Myanmar side on the handing over of these people after the court made the judgement," Hong added.
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Embassy refutes claims of life imprisonment of Chinese in Myanmar
The Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on Wednesday made a solemn representation to the Myanmar government, and also refuted claims that 153 Chinese nationals were sentenced to life imprisonment for illegal logging, saying that they only received up to 35 years in jail, the Global Times learned on Wednesday.
The embassy told the Global Times that it hadn't received any official notice related to the case so far and it had sent consular officials to Myitkyina, capital of Kachin province in Myanmar, to verify with the local court.
Earlier, Reuters reported that Chinese nationals were given life imprisonment by Myitkyina county court for violating protection of public property laws.
"According to what we know, 150 of them were given 20 years in jail and two of them, underage, were given 10 years while the other man, who was found hiding drugs, was given 35 years of imprisonment," director of the Information and Public Affairs Section of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar told the Global Times.
These Chinese lumberjacks, who were deceived into illegal logging by some unscrupulous Chinese and Myanmar businessmen, are now in jail and deserve sympathy, the director said.
