Courts in Myanmar have sentenced nine activists to prison terms of up to 37 years for their involvement in a protest that called for a boycott of elections held last December. The sentences were handed down Tuesday by two courts in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city.
Eight of the activists, including prominent figure Htet Myat Aung, received 37-year sentences after being convicted under the electoral law and the counterterrorism Law, according to May Hnin, a spokesperson for the Anti-Junta Forces Coordination Committee-Mandalay. A ninth activist was sentenced to 27 years after being convicted under the counterterrorism law.
The group was arrested days after staging a flash protest in downtown Mandalay on December 3. The demonstration urged the public to reject the elections, abolish the military conscription law, and secure the release of political prisoners detained since the military seized power in a 2021 coup.
The activists will not appeal the verdicts, as they do not anticipate the sentences would be overturned, May Hnin stated. She suggested the military-backed government imprisoned the activists to instill fear among the public and solidify its control.
"These sentences are proof that a government that came to power through a sham election can never establish a federal democratic system," May Hnin said. The military-backed government has not publicly commented on the sentences.
The election law, enacted by the previous military government in July of last year, carries potential punishments up to the death penalty for actions deemed to oppose or disrupt elections. Prior to the December election, more than 200 individuals were charged under this law. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party secured a majority in the election, which was deemed neither free nor fair by opponents and independent observers, as major opposition parties were excluded.
The 2021 military takeover sparked widespread popular opposition, which has since escalated into a civil war. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an organization that tracks arrests and casualties resulting from military repression, reported that 31,596 people have been arrested since the takeover, with over 14,000 individuals in detention as of Tuesday.