<p>Student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, who has been detained pending trial on a royal defamation charge, has been granted bail, while Siraphop Phumphuengphut, another student activist, has been denied bail and detained pending trial.</p>

<p>Sureerat Chiwarak, mother of detained student activist Parit &ldquo;Penguin&rdquo; Chiwarak, shaved her head yesterday (30 April) to protest against the court&rsquo;s decision to repeatedly deny bail for her son, whose health is reported to be rapidly declining after being on a hunger strike for the past 46 days.</p>

<p>Student activist Wanwalee Thammasattaya has been detained pending trial on a royal defamation charge relating to a protest on 6 December 2020</p>

<p>Four people currently facing royal defamation charges and detained pending trial have been granted bail: activists Jatupat Boonpattararaksa and Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, and two other people who were previously detained at prisons in Chiang Mai.</p>

<p>Thai artists are joining the online campaign &ldquo;#DrawTheJustice&rdquo; to protest against the unfair judicial process and for political activists currently facing charges or detained pending trial to be granted justice.</p>

<p>PEN International issued a <a href="https://pen-international.org/news/thailand-government-expands-legal-system-against-critics-criminalising-peaceful-expression">statement</a> on Tuesday (20 April) raising concerns about the Thai authorities&#39; use of the royal defamation law against critics of the monarchy and call for the repeal of Section 112 and for all charges against the protesters to be immediately dropped.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Saw Lin Htet, an ethnic Karen student from Myanmar currently studying at Mahidol University, has been arrested in Myanmar after joining an anti-coup protest while conducting research, and has not been heard from since. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Mongkhon Thirakot, who was <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/9179">arrested</a> on Wednesday (14 April) on charges under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crimes Act while on a hunger strike in front of the Criminal Court in Bangkok, has been granted bail after two days in detention.</p>

<p>A man who has been on hunger strike in front of the Criminal Court for the past three days to demand the release of detained activists has been arrested on charges under the lèse majesté law and the Computer Crimes Act.</p>

<p>Scholars At Risk (SAR) called on the Thai authorities for the immediate release of three detained students activists and for all charges against them to be dropped.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Phonphimon (last name withheld), a 22-year-old online vendor from Chiang Mai, faces a royal defamation charge and a charge under the Computer Crimes Act for a Facebook post made in October 2020 and is currently still in detention.</p>

<p>Activist Piyarat &ldquo;Toto&rdquo; Chongthep was immediately re-arrested on a royal defamation charge under Section 112, Thailand&rsquo;s lèse majesté law, after he was granted bail on a criminal organization charge and released from Bangkok Remand Prison.</p>