<p>The Thai police have arrested a man accused of creating a copycat Facebook profile under his friend’s name and posting lèse majesté messages on it to take revenge on his friend. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Four lèse majesté suspects accused of making false claims about HRH Princess Sirindhorn for financial benefit have denied lèse majesté charges.</p> <p>According to <a href="https://tlhr2014.wordpress.com/2015/12/22/112kampangpetch_2/">Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR)</a>, on Monday, 21 December 2015, the Provincial Court of Kamphaeng Phet held a deposition hearing for Atsadaphon S., 45, Kittiphop S., 23, Wiset P., 30, and Noppharit, 28, (surnames withheld due to privacy concerns).</p>

<h2>1. The more active citizens</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Given the public curiosity that there could be corruption in the construction of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajabhakti_Park">Rajabhakti Park</a>, and if so, who among the government officials, the military junta or members of the coup makers have been involved, it has led to at least three intriguing activities initiated by media and citizens keen on corruption issues including;</p>

<p>The criminal court has rejected a request from an anti-junta activist to free a fellow activist held at an unknown location while the National Human Rights Commission has pressed the authorities to disclose where he is being detained.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road, Bangkok, on Thursday at about 4 pm, 17 December 2015, for the second time rejected a plea to free Thanet A., a 25-year-old activist who was reportedly taken from his sickbed while waiting for a medical operation last week.</p>

<p>Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) have pointed out that the legal procedure under the Military Court leading to the verdict passed on a single mother convicted under the lèse majesté law is ‘unlawful’ and violates the rights to a fair trial.</p>

<p>A Thai publisher has for the fourth time since September removed an article from the International New York Times, this time about a recent lèse majesté case. &nbsp;</p> <p>According to the <a href="https://web.facebook.com/BBCThai/photos/a.1527194487501586.1073741828.1526071940947174/1720196594868040/?type=3&amp;theater">BBC Thai Service</a>, the Eastern Printing Company, the publisher of the International New York Times in Thailand, has removed an article titled ‘Thai man charged with insulting Royal dog’ from a page of the 15 December 2015 issue.</p>

<p>The Military Court has sentenced a 49-year-old accountant to 19 years in prison under the lèse majesté and sedition laws during a deposition hearing without informing her lawyer.</p>

<p>The Deputy Police Chief has confirmed that clicking ‘like’ on lèse majesté and seditious Facebook content is a criminal offence while a computer crime expert refuted the police claim. &nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr"><strong>Update</strong>: Thanakorn’s attorney from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) submitted a 300,000 baht (about 8,300 USD) bail request to the military court. However, the court denied bail, citing the severity of the case as it is related to the Thai monarchy and flight risk.</p>

<p>Plainclothes officers have reportedly arrested from his sickbed one of the activists calling for a probe into the Rajabhakti Park corruption scandals to face lèse majesté and sedition charges. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>At about 12:10 pm on Sunday, 13 December 2015, two officers in plainclothes reportedly arrested Thanet A., a 25-year-old activist who was one of more than 30 activists detained last week en route to Rajabhakti Park, a royal theme park constructed by the military and plagued with corruption allegations.</p>

<p>Thai authorities should immediately disclose the whereabouts of Thanakorn Siripaiboon, a critic of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/thailand" target="_blank">Thailand</a>’s junta who has reportedly been held in secret military custody since December 8, 2015, Human Rights Watch said today.<br /></p>

<p>After the Thai junta’s legal office filed lèse majesté and sedition charges against a factory worker for pressing ‘like’ on Facebook, the police have announced that hundreds more will be charged with lèse majesté for similar actions. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>According to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1449800168">Matichon Online</a>, police investigators are now gathering information and evidence to press charges against 20 administrators of an anti-establishment red-shirt Facebook group called ‘the National Red Shirts Association’.</p>