A 36-year-old man was sentenced to seven years of hard labor on Wednesday after a military-run court in Myanmar found him guilty of attempting to undermine the government’s plan to hold national elections in December, state-run media reported.
The Myanma Alinn newspaper said Nay Thway was convicted in a Taunggyi township court in eastern Shan state over an Aug. 25 Facebook post that criticized the military government for prioritizing an election timetable over public safety. The post, which has been removed, included surveillance video of a robbery. The report said he received the maximum penalty under a new election law aimed at anyone who opposes or disrupts the vote.
The sentence is the first known conviction under that law, which prescribes penalties for a range of offenses related to obstructing or undermining the electoral process; some offenses under the statute carry sentences up to the death penalty, according to the state-run report. Myanma Alinn did not provide details on whether Nay Thway would appeal or who represented him in court.
The ruling comes as Myanmar’s military junta presses ahead with plans to stage nationwide elections beginning Dec. 28, a vote that critics say is intended to legitimize the 2021 seizure of power. The military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering widespread protests that escalated into a prolonged and multi-front armed conflict between the junta and opposition groups.
The Union Election Commission has said about 60 parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, have registered to run. The commission announced this week that it had revoked the registration and dissolved four political parties for failing to meet rules on membership numbers and party offices.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was dissolved in 2023, and the Nobel laureate remains in detention. She is serving combined sentences that officials say total 27 years after being convicted in cases the junta has described as legal proceedings and critics have said were politically motivated. The parallel National Unity Government, formed by lawmakers prevented from taking their seats after the coup, has said Suu Kyi is in ailing health; the military has denied those claims and said she is in good condition.
Human rights organizations and exiled opposition figures have criticized the new election law and other restrictions as tools to suppress dissent and obstruct meaningful competition. Several resistance groups, including armed organizations opposed to the junta, have indicated they will seek to disrupt the planned voting, saying the election will not be free or fair under military rule.
The conviction of Nay Thway highlights the expanding use of legal measures by Myanmar’s authorities to penalize public criticism of the junta’s political agenda. It also underscores the shrinking space for dissenting voices as the government moves toward staging an election amid persistent unrest and international concern.