Burma’s ruling junta announced Saturday that it will pardon some 6,000 prisoners in an annual gesture to mark Independence Day.

The junta said in a statement that more than 5,800 prisoners, including about 180 foreigners, will be pardoned to celebrate Burma’s independence from Britain on Jan. 4, 1948.

Six hundred of them were convicted under Article 505 of the penal code, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in a statement sent to the media.

The article stipulates a maximum of three years in prison for anyone who commits an act that harms the reputation of the military.