Myanmar’s military rulers have pardoned or dropped charges against 8,665 people locked up for opposing the army rule as the country prepares for next month’s elections, according to state media.

The announcement on Thursday paves the way for prisoners to vote in upcoming polls that human rights groups have criticised as a sham process.

Myanmar’s military seized power in a 2021 coup that caused a civil war, but it has scheduled elections to start in December and trumpeted them as a return to normalcy for the Southeast Asian nation.

The order includes the reduction of sentences for 3,085 people convicted for comments “that could cause fear or spread fake news”.

Charges against another 5,580 people still at large have also been dropped.

It was not immediately clear how many of those c

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