Myanmar’s military-backed rulers have shaved time off Aung San Suu Kyi’s prison sentence and freed thousands of detainees, but analysts say the apparent goodwill gestures tell a story of a regime growing bolder, not more merciful.

The government last week announced an amnesty for 4,335 prisoners, its third in six months, and reduced by a sixth the 27-year sentence of the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who has not been seen in public since her criminal trials ended in December 2022.

Among those freed was Win Myint, the former president arrested alongside Suu Kyi in the February 2021 coup that brought Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to power.

The moves came days after Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president on April 10 following an election international observers dismissed as a sham designed to legitimise military rule. Analysts say the timing is no coincidence.

Hunter Marston, an adjunct fellow with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ Southeast Asia programme who has researched Myanmar extensively, said the regime was likely feeling more “secure in its power” following the opening of parliament last month.