Myanmar Military Prosecuting More Than 200 Under Harsh Election Disruption Law |
Myanmar’s military junta said yesterday that it was seeking to prosecute more than 200 people for “disrupting” its upcoming elections, the first phase of which is set to proceed on December 28.
According to a report in the state-run Global New Light for Myanmar, the junta’s Home Affairs Minister Tun Tun Naung told a meeting in Naypyidaw that “a total of 229 people” were being pursued “for attempting to sabotage election processes.”
Tun Tun Naung “then instructed the affiliated departments under the ministry to cooperate with Tatmadaw, people’s militia units, other security units, and partner organizations to ensure the security, state stability and peace in the relevant electoral period,” the report stated.
The 229, which includes 201 men and 28 women, are set to be persecuted under the Law on the Protection of Multiparty Democratic General Elections from Obstruction, Disruption, and Destruction, which was passed by the military in July. The group includes “fugitive activists and rebels operating beyond the junta’s reach,” the AFP news agency