Updated

State television in Myanmar says President Thein Sein has granted amnesty to 93 prisoners one day after the European Union lifted sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation.

It was not immediately clear how many political prisoners were among those amnestied on Tuesday.

But one prisoner of conscience who was released, Zaw Moe, says at least five of those freed from the notorious Insein prison in the main city Yangon were political prisoners.

The European Union on Monday dropped its political and economic sanctions against Myanmar to support the country's "remarkable process" of democratic reforms, while warning that the southeast Asian nation must curb recent outbursts of ethnic violence.

Hundreds of political prisoners are believed to remain behind bars in Myanmar.