Myanmar courts have sentenced nine activists to up to 37 years in prison for participating in a protest that urged the public to boycott last December’s elections.
Eight protesters against the military government, including prominent activist Htet Myat Aung, were sentenced to 37 years on Tuesday by two courts in Mandalay, an activist group said on Wednesday.
The sentences were imposed following the demonstrators’ convictions under the electoral law and 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, she added.
The activists were arrested on December 4, a day after they staged a flash protest in downtown Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.
The demonstrators were urging the public to boycott the elections set for between December 25, 2025, and January 25, 2026, and to reject mandatory conscription.
They also called for the release of political prisoners detained after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.
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