<p>Scholars At Risk (SAR) called on the Thai authorities for the immediate release of three detained students activists and for all charges against them to be dropped.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Phonphimon (last name withheld), a 22-year-old online vendor from Chiang Mai, faces a royal defamation charge and a charge under the Computer Crimes Act for a Facebook post made in October 2020 and is currently still in detention.</p>

<p>The state of emergency declared by the Thai authorities one year ago in an effort to curb the Covid-19 pandemic has been used as an excuse to crack down on fundamental freedoms and should be lifted, say regional lawmakers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University, and several other faculty personnel attempted on Monday (22 March) to remove students&rsquo; art projects from the Media Arts and Design Department building without first informing the students, while the Faculty claims that some items were removed because they could violate the law.</p>

<p>Activist Parit Chiwarak read out a statement during a hearing questioning the court&#39;s decision to reject bail for those who were charged with the royal defamation law and declaring that he would be fasting as an act of protest against the decision.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/9113">denial of bail</a> for four protest leaders on Monday (8 March) is &quot;tantamount to a systematic suppression of freedom of expression and freedom of opinion&quot; in Thailand, says Amnesty International, who calls on the government to end legal prosecution against dissenting voices.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As protests in Thailand begin to intensify again, authorities must urgently de-escalate their current heavy-handed approach and stop trampling the human rights of peaceful protesters, said Amnesty International on Saturday (6 March).&nbsp;</p>

<p>Section 112 of Thailand&rsquo;s Criminal Code, which criminalises defamation, insults, and threats to members of the monarchy, is fundamentally incompatible with the right to freedom of expression, said ARTICLE 19 in a&nbsp;briefing published today.</p>

<p>Tiwagorn Withiton, a Facebook user who went viral in 2020 for posting a picture of himself wearing a shirt printed with &ldquo;I lost faith in the monarchy,&rdquo; was arrested again this morning (4 March) by around 20 police officers.</p>

<p>Four protest leaders currently in detention pending trial have been denied bail for a third time after spending the past 14 days at Bangkok Remand Prison.</p>

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