Myanmar junta hands election boycott activists prison terms of up to 37 years

A military-controlled court in Mandalay has sentenced nine anti-junta activists to prison terms of up to 37 years for campaigning against the regime’s election, in one of the harshest punishments imposed under legislation introduced to suppress opposition to the junta’s electoral process. The verdicts were handed down on Wednesday by a special court inside Obo Prison, according to people close to the defendants. Among those receiving the longest sentences is Htet Myat Aung, a prominent student leader and former chair of the Yadanabon University Students’ Union. The activists were arrested in mid-December after staging a protest on December 3 near Mandalay’s Zegyo Market urging the public to boycott the military-organised 2025-2026 election. They were held at military interrogation centres before being transferred to Obo Prison, where they remained in custody for nearly six months before sentencing. Htet Myat Aung and seven co-defendants were each convicted on three counts under Article 23b of the Law on the Protection from Obstruction, Disruption and Destruction of Multi-Party Democratic General Elections, legislation promulgated by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in July 2025. The court sentenced them to 10 years in prison on each count, for a total of 30 years. The court also convicted them under Article 52a of the Counter-Terrorism Law, adding seven years to each sentence and bringing the total to 37 years. Those sentenced to 37 years are Htet Myat Aung, Chi Chi, Kyaw Wunna, Su Su Thwe, Aung Ko Win, Nge Lay, Wai Yan Oo and Thant Zin, according to the Anti-Fascist Coordination Committee (Mandalay), the umbrella organisation with which they are affiliated. A ninth defendant, Kyaw Aung, received a 27-year prison sentence. Details of the charges against him were not immediately available. The convictions appear to contradict a junta announcement on March 2 that pending prosecutions under Article 52a of the Counter-Terrorism Law would be discontinued. Despite that declaration, the terrorism charge remained part of the case against the activists and was used to secure their convictions. Following the December 3 protest, soldiers reportedly destroyed more than 50 shops near the demonstration site after accusing shop owners of failing to report the planned demonstration to the authorities. Since seizing power in a February 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military has carried out a broad crackdown on dissent in Mandalay, arresting monks, doctors, lawyers, teachers and other civilians accused of opposing military rule. Authorities have also confiscated or sealed homes and businesses linked to perceived opponents. The junta has increasingly relied on counter-terrorism legislation to prosecute critics, including people accused solely of expressing opposition to the military on social media. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), at least 31,596 civilians have been arrested in connection with opposition to the coup, with 18,590 still in detention. The latest sentences are among the most severe imposed under the junta’s election-related legislation, highlighting the military’s continued use of lengthy prison terms against organised political opposition as it pressed ahead with an electoral process widely dismissed by its critics. The election, held after more than five years of military rule, was presented by Min Aung Hlaing as a transition to civilian government under what he described as a “disciplined multi-party democracy.” The vote was widely criticised as neither free nor fair, taking place amid ongoing armed conflict, the imprisonment of political opponents, and the exclusion of the junta’s principal rivals. More than 100 days after the new administration took office, rights groups and observers say there has been little indication of a meaningful easing of repression. Night-time household inspections, compulsory military service, travel restrictions, surveillance of online activity, and prosecutions over social media posts continue. Independent media also remain under heavy pressure, with additional news outlets stripped of their publishing licences and journalists—including Myanmar Now photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike—still imprisoned. Thousands of political prisoners, including former state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her elected government, also remain behind bars, reinforcing criticism that the transition from direct military rule to a nominally civilian administration has brought little substantive change.

Myanmar junta hands election boycott activists prison terms of up to 37 years

The sentences highlight the regime’s determination to suppress all opposition to an electoral process widely dismissed as illegitimate

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