Four years into the five-year term of the NLD-led government, the issue of political prisoners remains one of the main problems in the country. Almost all the repressive laws that the military dictatorship used to jail activists remain in place. State media controlled by the NLD government has even carried propaganda features defending and promoting the usefulness of repressive laws, and new repressive laws have been proposed.
On the sixth anniversary of the death of U Win Tin, almost 200 political prisoners remain in jail, and almost 400 more activists and journalists are awaiting trial and possible detention.
Aung San Suu Kyi, as de facto leader of the NLD-led government, has the power through Presidential pardons to order the release of all political prisoners. Her party has the majority in Parliament needed to repeal all repressive laws.