Junta charges Karen leader and other opposition figures under new election laws

Myanmar’s junta election commission filed election-law charges against the Karen National Union’s (KNU) Thaton District chairman, several resistance members, and journalists on November 10, local sources say.After KNU Brigade 1 released a statement opposing the election on November 5, junta police in Mon State’s Thaton Township charged 22 people—including KNU official Padoh Saw Soe Myint—under Section 23(b) of the regime’s new election laws.Myanmar Now contacted Padoh Saw Soe Myint, but he could not be reached at time of publication.The junta’s new election laws impose harsh penalties for obstructing or “disrupting” the electoral process, granting broad powers to criminalise criticism or resistance to the polls. Analysts say the laws are being used to silence opposition and legitimise a vote widely seen as orchestrated to entrench military rule.The National Unity Government (NUG), ethnic armed groups including the KNU and resistance forces have called on the public to boycott and resist the junta election, labeling it a sham. In response, the junta has arrested more than 90 people in recent weeks—including activists, artists, and other civilians ahead of its planned polls.This week, Yangon junta police filed charges against the Assistance Association for Myanmar-based Independent Journalists, a network that supports independent journalists in Myanmar. The junta accused the group of spreading misleading content about an MP candidate and other offenses.Later, thirty-year-old Ya Mone Oo from Pale village in Thongwa Township, Yangon, was charged under Section 23(a) for criticising a junta produced short film that critics say is propaganda.At the same time, Dr. Khin Ma from Yangon was also charged under the new election laws for distributing anti-election materials. Finally, Kyaw Myint, 65, from Mon State’s Chaungzon Township, was also charged for tearing down a candidate signboard near his village office in recent days. On September 24, the junta filed cases against 13 KNU members, including Chair Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win, and 17 members of the Chinland administrative team in Chin State for “obstructing the election.”Junta police in Ayeyarwady Region’s Lemyethna Township filed cases against Arakan Army and PDF members after a drone strike hit a monastery where election officials were training. However, AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha denied the allegation, telling local media agency One Nation News that no civilian or religious sites were targeted and calling the charges politically motivated.In recent weeks, at least five individuals from the entertainment industry, including three film directors, were arrested by the junta under its election laws.“This shows that they cannot tolerate any criticism of the election,” a 40-year-old man from Bago said of the junta election laws. “I see these [charges] as an effort to intimidate the public into voting and force them to participate.”

Junta charges Karen leader and other opposition figures under new election laws

The regime’s latest arrests under harsh election laws highlight a widening crackdown on dissent

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