<p>The defence lawyer for a factory worker accused of lèse majesté for mocking the King’s dog requested the military prosecutors not to indict the suspect, saying that the lèse majesté law does not cover the King’s dog and the charge was politically motivated. &nbsp;</p> <p>Anon Nampa, a well know human rights lawyer, on Monday, 29 February 2016, submitted a letter to the military Judge Advocate General’s Office, calling for justice for Thanakorn S., a 27-year-old factory worker.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Lèse-majesté detentions have reached alarming levels after the 22 May 2014 military coup in Thailand, FIDH and UCL said in <a href="https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/fidh_thailand_report_lese_majeste.pdf">a new report published today</a>.</p>

<div> <div>The Thai police are considering a further lèse majesté charge against Somsak Jeamteerasakul, in self-imposed exile in France, and the Thai PBS channel over a talk programme on the lèse majesté law.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Tob Jod (The Answers) programmes were broadcast on Thai PBS, the only public TV channel in Thailand, on 11-14 March and 18 March 2013. Apart from Somsak, the episode on lèse majesté law featured Sulak Sivaraksa, an anti-lèse majesté law royalist, Surakiart Sathirathai, former Deputy Prime Minister, and Pol Gen Vasit Dejkunchorn. </div></div>

<p>Military prosecutors have charged suspects in an alleged Bike for Dad terrorist plot under the lèse majesté law; the suspects continue to plead innocent. &nbsp;</p>

<div>January 2016 marked more than four years since Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, social activist and former editor of Voice of Taksin magazine, lost his freedom for the publishing of two articles in the magazine which were deemed to fall within the domain of lèse majesté.</div> <p></p>

<div><em>Note: <a href="http://prachatai.org/english/node/5694">Aef Thanakorn&nbsp;S.</a> was arrested on 8 December 2015. &nbsp;He was detained in a military camp for seven days, the maximum currently permitted, before being taken to the Bangkok Military Court and formally accused of violating Article 112, Article 116, and the Computer Crimes Act. </em></div>

<p>The Military Court has ruled to continue the trial of an elderly independent writer accused of defaming the Thai monarchy despite the fact that he has been diagnosed with psychosis. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Military Court has again denied bail to a lèse majesté suspect accused of mocking the King’s dog while the suspect’s defence lawyer maintains that the case does not fall under the lèse majesté law. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://tlhr2014.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/thanakorn-112-sixthround/">Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR)</a>, reported that the Bangkok Military Court on Thursday, 11 February 2016, denied bail to Thanakorn S., suspected of offences under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law.</p>

<p>A psychiatric institute in Thailand has concluded that the trial can go ahead of a lèse majesté suspect who claims that he has telepathic powers to communicate with Thaksin Shinawatra, the controversial ex-Prime Minister.</p>

<div>Paris, Bangkok, 4 February 2016: A UN body has requested that Thailand immediately release lèse-majesté detainee Pornthip Munkong aka Golf and award her compensation for the arbitrary detention she has been subjected to, according to information received by FIDH.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>In an opinion adopted on 2 December 2015, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) declared that Golf’s detention is arbitrary because it contravenes Articles 9 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Articles 9(3) and 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and P </div>

<p>For the first time since the 2014 coup d’état, military prosecutors have dismissed lèse majesté charges against three suspects accused of defaming the Thai monarchy on Facebook.</p> <p>Sasinan Thamnitinan, a lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), told Prachatai on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, that military staff of the Judge Advocate General’s Office had decided not indict Jaruwan E., 26, Anon, 22, and Chat, 20, accused of using a Facebook page under the name of Jaruwan to defame the King.</p>

<div>Pavin Chachavalpongpun has been known as a fierce critic of the Thai Army since before Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha staged the coup d’état in May 2014. After the coup, he continued to criticize the junta leader in his mischievous and acerbic manner on his Facebook page, but also in frank and serious articles and interviews. Gen Prayut got so irritated that he called Pavin “a jerk” (คนเฮงซวย in Thai.)</div> <p></p>