<p>Apiwat Kantong, vice minister of the Office of the Prime Minister, filed a complaint today (5 August) against human rights lawyer Anon Nampa accusing him of defaming the monarchy in his speech at the <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/8696">Harry Potter-themed protest</a> on Monday (3 August), during which he called for monarchy reform and open criticism of the crown.</p>

<p>Students from Kasetsart University and the Mahanakorn for Democracy group organized a Harry Potter-themed protest on Monday (3 August) at the Democracy Monument, calling for amendments to laws regarding the power of the monarchy and for the authorities to listen to the voice of the people.</p>

<p>A military court in northern Thailand has sentenced a man diagnosed with psychosis to five years in prison for destroying the King’s portrait.</p> <p>The military court of the northern province of Chiang Rai on Thursday morning, 6 August 2015, sentenced Samak P., a 48-year-old man accused under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law, to 10 years imprisonment after the suspect pleaded guilty as charged last month.</p> <p>Since the defendant pleaded guilty, the court reduced the jail term by half to five years.</p>

<p>The Military Court postponed the deposition hearing of four embattled democracy activists accused of violating the junta’s ban on public gatherings because additional testimony on the case has not yet been collected. &nbsp;</p> <p>Bangkok’s Military Court on Wednesday postponed the deposition examination of four democracy activists who were charged with defying the junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Order No. 7/2014 by holding a political gathering of more than five people on 14 February. If found guilty, the four could be jailed for one year and fined up to 20,000 baht.</p>

<p>(New York, March 17, 2015) – Thai authorities should immediately drop charges against four activists who peacefully expressed opposition to military rule, Human Rights Watch said today.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">The military court refused to detain the four anti-junta activists charged with violating junta’s public gathering ban after the police filed charges against them.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Bangkok’s Military Court at 6.30pm on Monday denied the custody request submitted by the military prosecutor against the four anti-junta activists, reasoning that the four came to report to the police and there is no flight risk.</p>