<div> <div>A military court on Tuesday sentenced eight defendants to 10 years in jail for lèse majesté, while two other defendants were sentenced to six years. However, since they pleaded guilty, the jail terms were halved. The 10 defendants are accused of being members of the anti-monarchy Banpodj Network, which allegedly produced podcast programmes criticizing HM the King.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>A total of 14 people were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Bandpodj Network. They were separated into two groups of 12 and two, each group facing different charges. </div></div>

<p>A mentally ill Thai accused of defaming the monarchy has retracted his pre-trial statement and pleaded guilty as charged, saying that he could no longer stand a lengthy court process. &nbsp;</p>

<div><em>Two theater activists have been jailed for insulting the King for their involvement with the Wolf Bride, a student play which parodies the Thai political conflict. At least two actors have fled Thailand because they acted in the same play. &nbsp;</em></div> <p></p>

<p>Thai police summoned a human rights activist for interrogation over an academic seminar involving discussion of the Thai monarchy. &nbsp;</p> <p>On Wednesday, 1 July 2015, Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, a human rights activist known for her work with slum dwellers in Bangkok, told media that police officers from Pak Khlong Rangsit Police Station in Pathum Thani Province had summoned her for questioning over a seminar entitled ‘83 Years of Thailand’s Development after the 1932 Revolution of Siam’.</p>

<p>France has granted refugee status to Thai political refugees and lèse majesté suspects who fled Thailand after the 2014 coup d’état.</p> <p>According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BBCThai/photos/a.1527194487501586.1073741828.1526071940947174/1670422789845421/?type=1&amp;fref=nf">BBC Thai Service</a>, the French government on 12 June granted refugee status to&nbsp;<a href="http://prachatai.org/english/node/5082">Saran Chuichai</a>, aka Aum Neko, a renowned Thai transgender student activist, who fled to France shortly after the coup d’état on 22 June 2014.</p>

<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The police have arrested a woman for posting lèse majesté content and a false rumour about a double coup. </div></div>

<div>Sombat Boonngam-anong, aka Nuling or the Polka Dot Editor, is a playful pro-democracy activist. Adding to the four charges he's now facing, the junta recently banned him from selling a bagged rice, saying it is a political activity.&nbsp;</div> <div> </div>

<div>Paris, 23 June 2015: Thailand should amend Article 112 of the Criminal Code (lèse-majesté), the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) said in its concluding observations released yesterday after its review of Thailand’s report on 4-5 June in Geneva.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The CESCR expressed concern over the “adverse effect of the excessive interpretation” of lèse-majesté on the enjoyment of the right of everyone to take part in cultural life. </div>

<div>Thanat Thanawatcharanon aka Tom Dundee was recognized as a celebrity for more than a decade before he disappeared from the media. Recently he re-appeared after being accused of defaming the monarchy and violating orders of the military government.</div> <p></p>

<div>The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expresses strong concern for the banning of an event at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Thailand (FCCT) by Thailand’s military junta. The IFJ urges the military junta to end its increasingly repressive stance towards press freedom and the media in Thailand.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Last week, on Thursday July 11, the police on behalf of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) sent a letter to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Thailand (FCCT) banning an event that was to be held this week at the FCCT on June 17. </div>

<div>Tiensutham S. , aka Yai Daengdueat, was sentenced to 50 years in jail for posting lèse majesté&nbsp;content on Facebook. The jail term was halved due to confession. Yai's wife -- Kai -- was also arrested and interrogated by the military. Kat tells the story since the arrest which she says there is no days without tear.</div> <p></p>

<p>The Thai prosecutor’s office has indicted and proceeded with the extradition of a lèse majesté suspect in exile.</p> <p>The Office of the Attorney General of Thailand on Tuesday indicted&nbsp;<a href="http://www.prachatai.org/english/taxonomy/term/2458/all">Ekapop L. (aka Tang Achiwa)</a>, an anti-establishment red shirt currently in self-imposed exile, under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law.</p>