<p>According to Matichon, Pol Lt Col Chachpong Pongsuwan, investigator at Khon Kaen Police Station, said that a lèse majesté charge had been lodged against Chiranuch Premchaiporn since 2008. The case has been vetted by the Provincial Police Board Region 4, and is now being prosecuted by a department of the National Police Bureau. A summons is not necessary in this case because the offence carries a severe penalty.</p>
<p>The charges against Chiranuch were made by the Superintendent of Khon Kaen Police who alleged that she, as website administrator, and website users violated Sections 14 and 15 of the 2007 Computer Crimes Act and Section 112 of the Criminal Code (lèse majesté) for offensive comments made on the website on 27 April 2009.</p>
<p><strong><em>(Correction: the charges were made by Sunimit Jirasuk, a local businessman in Khon Kaen, for comments on Prachatai in April 2008 about <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/620">Chotisak Onsoong</a>.)</em></strong></p>
<p>The Ministry of Culture and the Department of Special Investigation will set up a panel to investigate <a href="http://www.sameskybooks.org/">Same Sky magazine</a> for alleged lèse majesté content. A group of royalists have urged a senate committee to take action against lèse majesté offenders on Facebook, and the DSI has posted an arrest warrant for a Facebook user. </p>
<p>On 15 Sept, Somyos Phreuksakasemsuk lodged a complaint with Amara Pongsapit, Chair of the National Human Rights Commission, and Parinya Sirisarakarn, a Human Rights Commissioner, asking the agency to look into the government order for the police to search Golden Power Co, which was hired to print the Red Power magazine, and to halt the printing of the magazine on its 11 printing presses. The Provincial Industry Authority pressed charges against the company for violating the factory law, and police also searched K K Publishing Co, distributor of the magazine, and ordered it to stop dis</p>
<p>The National Library of Thailand has notified the police to take legal action against Same Sky magazine because it has not been registered and its content may constitute lèse majesté. The editor insists on publishing, and thanks the National Library for helping advertise his magazine.</p>
<p>Editor condemns the government’s threat to close down his magazine, and vows to continue publication in Chiang Mai instead. </p>
By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) |
<p>Debating Vietnam's human rights record under its ASEAN Chairmanship is more than ever impossible</p>
<p>Paris, 12 September 2010: The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) announced today that it has been under pressure by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cancel a press conference on human rights in Vietnam, organized by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR).<br />
</p>
By Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) |
<p>The Thai Television Station Joint Censorship Committee recently banned a TV ad that featured the violent events in Bangkok in May this year, saying that the commercial might spark another round of<br />
conflict, media reports said.</p>
By Pravit Rojanaphruk, The Nation |
<p>The space on the Internet for dissenting political views is on the decline following the announcement by Prachatai, an online newspaper, that it will shut down its Web board by the end of this month, rights and media reform activists say. </p>
<p>The decision "is indicative of the shutdown of free speech in Thailand under the ongoing state of emergency", the Hong-Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) stated on Thursday.</p>
<p>Chiranuch Premchaiporn has informed readers that the Prachatai webboard will be closed on 31 July. The announcement should have been made a month earlier, but she has been too speechless, she says. She apologizes to readers.</p>
<p>The Prachatai webboard was created when the Prachatai website first began, and was meant to be a space for free discussion.</p>
By Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) |
<p>Thailand's Cabinet approved on 15 June 2010 the creation of an online crime agency that will go after violators of the Kingdom's lèse majesté law, media reports said.</p>
<p>Agence France-Presse quoted the government as saying that the Bureau of Prevention and Eradication of Computer Crime was established to protect the royal family.</p>
<p>"The monarchy is crucial for Thai national security because it is an institution that unifies the entire nation," government spokesman Watchara Kanikar said.</p>
<p>In a cabinet meeting on 15 June, ICT Minister Chuti Krairoek reported about websites containing lèse majesté contents. He said that Jakrapob Penkair and Giles Ungpakorn are still active in conveying information through websites in Europe. Meanwhile, the Ministry of ICT found a group of 200 people that constantly posts LM messages online, which is against the law.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has urged ICT Minister Chuti to negotiate with the people related to the websites according to the National Reconcilation Roadmap.</p>