<p dir="ltr">A military court has questioned an anti-junta activist’s mother accused of lèse majesté in a closed hearing.</p>
<p dir="ltr">On 14 December 2016, the Military Court of Bangkok held a deposition hearing for Patnaree Charnkij, the mother of the well-known anti-junta activist Sirawit Serithiwat.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Before the hearing began, the court announced it would proceed with the hearing in camera, allowing only Patnaree and her defence lawyer to be in the courtroom without any observers since the case is related to the lèse majesté law.</p>
<div>
<div>The authorities have summoned or visited at least six people across the country who follow the Facebook page of an exiled academic.
</div></div>
<div>
<div>Thailand saw its first lèse majesté case under King Rama X, only two days after the king’s accession. Experts argue that this case is different from cases that occurred under King Rama IX.</div>
</div>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr">The Thai military has threatened a prominent anti-junta activist from the New Democracy Movement (NDM) with the lèse majesté law over a Facebook post.</p>
<p dir="ltr">On 8 December 2016, Chanoknan Ruamsap, a key member of NDM, posted a message on her Facebook account explaining that the military contacted her family while she was in Brazil. </p>
<p dir="ltr">After the arrest of an anti-junta activists accused of lèse majesté for sharing the BBC Thai’s biography of King Rama X, Thai authorities have blocked the article.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A provincial court has freed a leading member of an anti-junta activist group accused of lèse majesté for sharing a biography of the new King of Thailand published by the BBC Thai. </p>
<p dir="ltr">At 11:45 am on 4 December 2016, the Provincial Court of Khon Kaen granted 400,000 baht bail to Jatuphat Boonpattaraksa, also known as Pai Daodin, a key member of the New Democracy Movement (NDM) anti-junta activist group. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Jarupat (Pai) Boonpattararaksa is a member of Dao Din and a person who habitually uses Facebook in accessing various kinds of information and news. He is no different than the rest of us who can access social media more easily than 7-Eleven. He is one of thousands of people who shared a news story published BBC-Thai, but in his case a warrant for his arrest under Article 112 was issued for sharing this information. The person who has brought the case is a soldier. At this time, the police have taken Jatupat to the Khon Kaen police station to proceed with the case.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Thai police have arrested a leading member of an anti-junta activist group for sharing a biography of the new King of Thailand published by the BBC Thai. </p>
<p dir="ltr">At about 8: 45 am on 3 December 2016, police officers arrested Jatuphat Boonpattaraksa, aka. Pai Daodin, while he was participating in a rally with a group of Buddhist monks in the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A provincial court has concluded that Bangkok’s military court has the jurisdiction to try a lèse majesté suspect accused of mocking the late King’s favourite dog.</p>
<div>
<div>A military court has given an 8 months suspended jail term to a suspect who refused to comply with a junta order. He also faces a lèse majesté charge</div>
<div> </div>
<div>On 25 November 2016, Bangkok Military Court found Sirapop (surname withheld for privacy concerns) guilty of breaching a junta order. The court sentenced him to 1 year in jail and an 18,000 baht fine.
</div></div>
<p>A provincial court in eastern Thailand has granted bail to a man arrested for lèse majesté after he was beaten by a group of vigilantes for allegedly insulting the late King on social media. </p>
<p>On 22 November 2016, the Provincial Court of Chonburi Province granted 200,000 baht bail to a 19-year-old man referred to as ‘K’, <a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=2844">Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR)</a> reported.</p>
By Sukpavee Kobel |
<p dir="ltr">Insults vs. Hate Crime, who will win this game of attention?</p>