HRF strongly condemns the Burmese junta for targeting 10 activists who protested against the upcoming sham election. The junta is reportedly seeking to persecute them under laws designed to silence dissent.

According to the junta, these 10 activists are being pursued for “shouting and scattering leaflets opposing the elections” in Mandalay, Burma’s second-largest city. The junta said it would arrest them and take further action. (Straits Times)

Although it has announced that elections will start on Dec. 28, the military continues to suppress all opposition and ban any criticism of the vote. In July, the junta passed an election law that imposes prison terms of up to 10 years for group protests.

Since seizing power in a 2021 coup, the junta has cracked down on dissidents, killing thousands and arbitrarily arresting over 30,000 people.

To learn more about military rule in Burma and the country’s ongoing struggle for democracy, watch former @OsloFF speaker @MissWHPT.