Courts in Mandalay (Myanmar's second-largest city) have sentenced nine activists to prison terms of up to 37 years for staging a flash protest urging the public to boycott the military-backed elections scheduled for late December 2025. Eight of the activists, including prominent figure Htet Myat Aung, received 37-year sentences after being convicted under both electoral and counterterrorism laws, while a ninth received 27 years. The harsh sentences, which the activists will not appeal, come after Myanmar's military government passed a law in July 2025 banning any protest or organising activity aimed at disrupting the electoral process — a vote widely condemned by opponents and independent observers as neither free nor fair.