Parliament voted to abolish the Emergency Provisions Act, which was widely applied by the former military government to stifle political activists by threatening harsh penalties, including a potential death sentence for leaking state secrets.

Parliament voted to abolish the Emergency Provisions Act, which was widely applied by the former military government to stifle political activists by threatening harsh penalties, including a potential death sentence for leaking state secrets.
The law, introduced in 1950, was one of the military government's chief weapons of silencing dissent and instituting a climate of fear and distrust. Under the Act's provisions, state security forces could arrest and detain civilians indefinitely without filing official charges.
Under the repressive act anyone found guilty of committing treason – which included such activities as sabotage of railways or damaging telegraph poles – could face penalties including a lifetime in prison or a death sentence. Hefty terms were also meted out for other crimes, such as spreading false news or disrupting public morality.
National League for Democracy MP's, many former political prisoners themselves, have pushed for repeal of controversial law since taking power in March. The Pyithu Hluttaw Bill Committee proposed abolishing the law at the beginning of August, citing its misuse to arbitrarily detain civilians and politicians, but a Union Solidarity and Developmetn Party and a military MP defended the law, suggesting amendments to restrict the scope of its application instead. The proposal made its way to Myanmar's upper house on September 14.