Myanmar court sentences activists to 37 years over election protest
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- Myanmar courts in Mandalay sentenced eight activists, including prominent activist Htet Myat Aung, to 37 years in prison on Tuesday, with a ninth activist receiving 27 years, according to the Anti-Junta Forces Coordination Committee-Mandalay.
- The convictions were handed down under both the electoral law and counterterrorism law, and the sentences came a day after the activists were arrested on December 4 following a flash protest in downtown Mandalay.
- Spokesperson May Hnin said the activists will not appeal because they do not believe the verdicts will be overturned, adding that she sees the imprisonment as an attempt to instill fear and consolidate the military's grip on power.
- A July 2025 law Myanmar adopted criminalizes "any speech, organising, inciting, protesting or distributing leaflets in order to destroy a part of the electoral process," with punishments ranging up to the death penalty; more than 200 people were charged under it before the December vote.
- The December election, which ran from December 25, 2025, to January 25, 2026, saw the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party win a majority, but opponents and independent observers said it was neither free nor fair.
- The protests had three stated demands: a boycott of the elections, a rejection of mandatory conscription, and the release of political prisoners detained since the military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in 2021.
Why it matters: The 37-year sentences fall under a July 2025 electoral law carrying punishments up to the death penalty, under which more than 200 people had already been charged before the December vote — signaling that the junta's legal framework now treats election boycotts as severely as acts of terrorism.
