MYANMAR’S ruling military junta is set to free about 2,000 people from jail, according to reports today, as state TV said that charges against actors and celebrities were to be dropped.

At least 120 celebrities, including singers Lin Lin and Chit Thu Wai, actors Phway Phway, Eaindra Kyaw Zin and Pyay Ti Oo and model May Myat Noe, were put on the military’s wanted list for their involvement in anti-coup protests.

But the army-run TV channel Myawaddy said the charges against 24 of those listed had been dropped because their involvement was the result of “external factors.”

Rumours of the imminent release began circulating on Saturday, prompting family members to gather outside the prisons.

At least 700 of the prisoners will be released from Yangon’s Insein jail, Myanmar’s prison chief Zaw Zaw said.

The military have faced daily protests since seizing power on February 1, citing unfounded claims of fraud in the November elections, which were won in a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

Arrest warrants have been issued for nearly 2,000 people since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners and more than 5,200 people are currently detained, it said.