Myanmar junta enacts new law to jail election critics, protesters
Anyone who commits an offence under the new law could face five to 10 years in prison, or even the death penalty
The junta seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking a many-sided civil war, and has touted elections at the end of this year as a path to peace.
Opposition groups – including democratic lawmakers ousted by the military takeover – and international monitors have called the poll a ploy to legitimise the junta’s rule.
State newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar said the “Law on the Protection of Multiparty Democratic Elections from Obstruction, Disruption and Destruction” was enacted on Tuesday.
Its 14-page text forbids “any speech, organising, inciting, protesting or distributing leaflets to destroy a part of the electoral process”.
Individuals convicted face between three and seven years behind bars, while offences committed in groups can result in sentences between five and ten years.
The legislation also outlaws damaging ballot papers and polling stations, as well as the intimidation or harm of voters, candidates and election workers, with a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.