Officials in Burundi say they have freed another 780 political prisoners as part of an accord to end the country's civil war.
The move follows the release of 673 political prisoners last month.
Amnesty International has criticized the releases, saying they could allow war criminals to go unpunished.
The human rights group says Burundi's government has yet to create a truth and reconciliation commission it says the prisoners would have to appear before.
In an interview with VOA, Burundi's information minister also acknowledged criticism over the release of military personnel convicted of assassinating Burundi's first democratically-elected president, Melchior Ndadaye.
Kalenga Ramadhani says it did not make sense to jail the people who executed the crime while the masterminds remain at large.
Burundi's 12-year-civil war ended in 2004. Some 300,000 people were killed.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
