Htet Myat Aung and seven activists sentenced to 37 years over anti-regime protests

Htet Myat Aung, a member of the General Strike Coordination Body and the former chairperson of the Yadanabon University Students' Union - two pro-democracy groups opposing the 2021 military coup - speaks to people at an unknown location and date. (Credit: YUSU)

A regime-controlled court in Mandalay has sentenced prominent student leader Htet Myat Aung and seven other pro-democracy activists to 37 years in prison following their involvement in anti-election demonstrations.

The Yadanabon University Students’ Union (YUSU) confirmed the heavy sentences in a statement on Tuesday. The tribunal handed down a 30-year sentence under the regime’s Election Protection Law alongside a seven-year sentence under the Counter-Terrorism Law.

“Protesting a fraudulent election is an act of courage, not a crime, and no 37-year sentence from an illegitimate junta can silence the fundamental right to speak out,” said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a Myanmar pro-democracy activist and Advocacy Coordinator for the Action Committee for Democracy Development (ACDD).

Judicial crackdown on student organizers

“The brutal sentencing of Ko Htet Myat Aung proves that the junta’s electoral process is a farce built on forced silence and political imprisonment. International actors must not be fooled by this democratic facade. True political dialogue cannot exist while youth leaders are tortured, silenced, and locked away for decades,” Thinzar Shunlei Yi told DVB.

The 24-year-old Htet Myat Aung was violently arrested by regime security forces in Mandalay Region on Dec. 14 following a high-profile anti-regime protest: