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Sentences After Boycott Protest
Myanmar courts sentenced nine activists to prison terms of up to 37 years over a protest calling for a boycott of last December’s elections, according to an activist group.
“sentenced nine activists to up to 37 years in prison”
ABC News reported that May Hnin, a spokesperson for the Anti-Junta Forces Coordination Committee-Mandalay, said eight members including prominent activist Htet Myat Aung were sentenced to 37 years on Tuesday by two courts in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city.
ABC News said the activists were arrested days after staging a flash protest in downtown Mandalay on Dec. 3 calling on the public to reject the elections, abolish the military conscription law and release political prisoners detained after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.
ABC News added that a ninth activist was sentenced to 27 years after being convicted under the counterterrorism law, and that the activists will not appeal the verdicts because they do not believe the sentences would be overturned.
The sentences were imposed following convictions under the electoral law and counterterrorism law, May Hnin said, and Al Jazeera reported that the activists were arrested on December 4, a day after they staged a flash protest in downtown Mandalay.
Voices and No Appeal
May Hnin said the activists will not appeal the rulings because they do not believe the penalties will be overturned, and she argued the military jailed them for peacefully protesting to instill fear among the public and secure its hold on power.
ABC News quoted May Hnin saying, “These sentences are proof that a government that came to power through a sham election can never establish a federal democratic system,” as the military-backed government had not publicly commented on the sentences.
Al Jazeera similarly reported that May Hnin believed the military imprisoned the activists for peacefully protesting to instill fear among the public and secure its hold on power.
Al Jazeera also said the demonstrators were urging the public to boycott the elections set for between December 25, 2025, and January 25, 2026, and to reject mandatory conscription.
ABC News reported that the election law, enacted in July last year by the previous military government, imposes punishments of up to the death penalty for anyone who opposes or disrupts elections.
Broader Repression and Legal Stakes
The sentencing came amid a wider crackdown tied to Myanmar’s election-related legal framework, with ABC News saying more than 200 people were charged under the election law before the December election.
“bans “any speech, organising, inciting, protesting or distributing leaflets”
ABC News reported that the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said 31,596 people had been arrested since the 2021 takeover, and more than 14,000 were in detention as of Tuesday.
Al Jazeera added that in July 2025 Myanmar adopted a law that bans “any speech, organising, inciting, protesting or distributing leaflets in order to destroy a part of the electoral process”.
Al Jazeera said the law imposes punishments that range all the way up to the death penalty, and it reported that more than 200 people were charged under the new law before the December election.
Al Jazeera also said opponents and independent observers described the election, which did not include major opposition parties, as neither free nor fair, while the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won a majority.