YANGON: Myanmar authorities announced Thursday the arrest of three artists for undermining the upcoming junta-organized election, wielding new speech laws that rights monitors say oppress dissent.
Myanmar’s military snatched power in a 2021 coup sparking a civil war, but is trumpeting elections scheduled to start in December as an opportunity for reconciliation.
Rebel groups have pledged to block the polls from their enclaves and numerous rights monitors have said voting cannot be free and fair under restrictions imposed in junta-controlled territory.
Three artists were arrested at their homes on Monday under legislation introduced this year punishing speech deemed damaging to the election with up to a decade in prison, state media said.
The Global New Light of Myanmar said the men — a director, an actor and a comedian — were detained “for making false and misleading criticism on social media” of other artists who produced a pro-election film.
The movie, aired on repeat on state TV, contains scenes with a village doctor urging opposition fighters to lay down their weapons and endorse the election — due to start in phases on December 28.
The newspaper said the three arrested men “failed to contribute their artistic expertise toward the success of the upcoming election.”
“Instead, they criticized and attacked other artists who were cooperating in the process,” it added.
Legislation introduced in July forbids “any speech, organizing, inciting, protesting or distributing leaflets in order to destroy a part of the electoral process.”
Individuals convicted face between three and seven years behind bars, while offenses committed by groups can result in sentences of between five and 10 years.
“The military junta has weaponized restrictive laws to crack down on dissent and curtail fundamental freedoms,” said a report last month by the Asian Network for Free Elections.
Analysts have described the elections as a fig leaf designed to conceal continuing military rule, while deposed democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi remains jailed and her party has been dissolved.
Myanmar arrests three artists for ‘disrupting election’
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Myanmar arrests three artists for ‘disrupting election’
35 million Nigerians ‘risk hunger after global funding collapse’
- The UN can only aim to deliver $516 million to provide lifesaving aid to 2.5 million people this year, down from 3.6 million in 2025, which in turn was about half the previous year’s level
ABUJA: Nearly 35 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger this year, including 3 million children facing severe malnutrition, the UN said, following the collapse of global aid budgets.
Speaking at the launch of the 2026 humanitarian plan in Abuja, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohammed Malick Fall said the long-dominant, foreign-led aid model in Nigeria is no longer sustainable and that Nigeria’s needs have grown.
Conditions in the conflict-hit northeast are dire, Fall said, with civilians in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states facing rising violence.
BACKGROUND
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohammed Malick Fall said the foreign-led aid model in Nigeria is no longer sustainable and that the country’s needs have grown.
A surge in terror attacks killed more than 4,000 people in the first eight months of 2025, matching the toll for all of 2023, he said.
The UN can only aim to deliver $516 million to provide lifesaving aid to 2.5 million people this year, down from 3.6 million in 2025, which in turn was about half the previous year’s level.
“These are not statistics. These numbers represent lives, futures, and Nigerians,” Fall said.
He also said the UN had no choice but to focus on “the most lifesaving” interventions given the drop in available funding.
Shortfalls last year led the World Food Programme to also warn that millions could go hungry in Nigeria as its resources ran out in December and it was forced to cut support for more than 300,000 children.
Fall said Nigeria was showing growing national ownership of the crisis response in recent months through measures such as local funding for lean-season food support and early-warning action on flooding.
