<p>Controversial ex-Prime Minister Pol Lt Col Thaksin Shinawatra is to be charged with defaming the monarchy and stripped of his police rank.</p>

<p>The criminal court held a preliminary hearing in the case of a man accused of defaming the monarchy on Facebook in camera after six months of detention although the defendant claimed that the alleged lèse majesté Facebook account was not his.</p> <p>Bangkok’s Ratchada Criminal Court on Monday held a preliminary hearing in camera in the case of Piya (surname withheld due to privacy concerns), a 46 year old man who was accused under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the&nbsp; lèse majesté law.</p>

<div>Since the coup on 22 May 2014, about a hundred pro-democracy activists have fled the country because they may end up in jails due to political charges. Aum Neko, a provocative transgender activist, fled to France after the coup and is beginning her new life. Aum tells about her long-term plan abraod and how she will continue to campaign for the Thai democracy.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<p>(New York, May 22, 2015) – One year after seizing power,&nbsp;<a href="http://hrw.pr-optout.com/Tracking.aspx?Data=HHL%3d8%2c7389-%3eLCE593719%26SDG%3c90%3a.&amp;RE=MC&amp;RI=4369775&amp;Preview=False&amp;DistributionActionID=78572&amp;Action=Follow+Link" target="_blank">Thailand</a>’s military junta has used dictatorial power to systematically repress human rights throughout the country, Human Rights Watch said today. The ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), led by Prime Minister Gen.</p>

<p>On 22 May 2014, the military clique in the name of “National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)” seized power from the Yingluck Shinawatra government citing as its pretext the incessant violence which has led to massive casualties among people and damage to properties, hence the seizure of the power to stem the destructive causes. &nbsp;</p>

<div>Paris, Bangkok, 20 May 2015: In the first 12 months under the rule of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), Thailand experienced an unprecedented number of lèse-majesté detentions, FIDH and its member organization Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) said today.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“Unless the NCPO promotes an urgent reform of Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, Thai jails will be increasingly populated by individuals who have merely exercised their fundamental rights to freedom of opinion and expression,” said FIDH President Karim Lahidji.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>According to rese </div>

<div>The criminal court on Thursday sentenced a man to five years in jail for lèse majesté based on claims about the former royal consort in a land encroachment case. </div>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-b2ad50e2-4737-1758-e0cd-810c94f9008a">The Thai Appeal Court on Tuesday sentenced a 65-year-old woman with a mental illness to jail for a year without suspension for stepping on image of King Bhumibol. &nbsp;</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-b2ad50e2-4737-1758-e0cd-810c94f9008a">Thitinan K. was found guilty of treading on an image of HM the King when several groups of protesters gathered in front of the Constitutional Court office in July 2012.&nbsp;</span></p>

<p>An ultra-royalist group has launched a political cyber bullying campaign and legal charges against a red shirt activist. The campaign against her has led to her employer firing her on Monday. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Translator’s Note: This is the fifth instalment of a fable that was initially published <a href="http://prachatai.org/journal/2015/03/58250">in Thai</a> on Prachatai. The first four parts were published in English translation <a href="http://prachatai.org/english/node/4778">here</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr">Amnesty International urged the Thai junta to remove censorships over media and stop the prosecutions of people of the press in the name of national security.</p> <p>On Sunday, <a href="http://www.amnesty.or.th">Amnesty International </a>issued a public statement to the Thai junta on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, which is on 3 May of every year.</p> <p>The statement pointed out that since the imposition of the martial law on 20 May 2014 and the subsequent coup d’état, the junta maintains tight control over media, claiming that it is necessary for national security.</p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8804/17373174022_2a911edcbc.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Photo from <a href="http://www.humanrights.asia/">Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)&nbsp;</a></p>