A LEADING Myanmar actor, model and singer jailed for supporting pro-democracy protests has been pardoned and released, said his legal team today.

Paing Takhon, 25, a star in both Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand, has been active in the mass protests that rocked the country following the coup last year, leading rallies and advocating through his massive social media following.

He was arrested in a dawn raid at his mother’s home in Yangon in April, and jailed for three years with hard labour for spreading dissent against the military in December.

Today, he was pardoned and released and has arrived home, said his lawyer, without giving details.

The junta in a statement confirmed his release, along with actors Lu Min, Pyi Ti Oo and Eaindra Kyaw Zin, “in order for them to participate in nation-building with their art”.

It did not give further details.

In February last year, Paing Takhon – who had more than a million followers on Facebook and Instagram – posted photos of himself in a white tracksuit with a megaphone, hard hat and a white fluffy dog strapped to his chest at a protest.

The heartthrob is also famous in Thailand, where he has appeared in TV shows and commercials.

Soon after the coup, the junta published a list of about 120 celebrities wanted for arrest.

Several are still on the run.

More than 1,500 people have been killed in the military’s crackdown on dissent following the ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February last year, according to a local monitoring group. – AFP, March 2, 2022.