By Free Somyot Campaign |
<p>Supporters worldwide are stepping up their action to free Thailand’s Somyot Pruksakasemsuk. The veteran campaigner for democracy and labour rights has been in jail since April 2011 on lèse majesté charges. He is being held purely on remand. To date, the charges against him have not been proven. In any case, he is not accused of writing the features concerned. He is charged only with the “publication and dissemination” of two articles in the journal Voice of Thaksin, of which he was the acting editor but not the legal publisher.</p>
<p>On 13 Dec 2011, police raided the homes of two Thai internet users, took them in for interrogation and seized their computers and several other items. They were released at night on the same day. Until now, they have not yet been officially charged.</p>
<p>On 5 March, Pranee Danwatthananusorn told Prachatai that her husband Surachai was going to petition the government to seek a royal pardon for all political prisoners including those jailed for lèse majesté offences.</p>
By Asian Human Human Rights Commission |
<p>On the afternoon of 29 February 2012, Professor Worachet Pakeerut, a law professor at Thammasat University, leader of the Khana Nitirat, and human rights defender (HRD), was assaulted by two men outside the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University. The two men punched Professor Worachet several times in the face until he bled and his eyeglasses were broken. He was subsequently treated at Thonburi Hospital and released. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to urgently express concern over the physical assault of Professor.</p>
By Pipob Udomittipong |
<p>29 February 2012: Worajet Pakirat, lecturer in Public Law at Thammasat University and founding member of the Nitirat Group, which demands reform of the repressive lèse majesté law in Thailand, was punched in his face by two men at the Tha Phra Chan Campus of Thammasat University in Bangkok today. </p>
<p>On 28 Feb, <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/search/node/Surachai Danwatthananusorn">Surachai Danwatthananusorn</a>, leader of the Red Siam group, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for lèse majesté on three counts, but the jail term was commuted by half due to his guilty plea.</p>
<p>The Appeals Court has rejected Amphon Tangnoppakul’s bail request, saying that it ‘does not believe that the defendant will not flee.’ The public prosecutor has been granted yet another month to appeal Joe Gordon’s case.</p>
<p>Dr Tul Sitthisomwong, leader of royalist multi-coloured group, explained his opposition against proposed amendments to the lese majeste law or Article 112 of the Criminal Code at an event held by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand on 16 Feb.</p>
By Reporters Without Borders |
<p>The trial of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the editor of the Prachatai news website, resumed before a Bangkok court on 14 February after a long interruption, with testimony being heard on 14, 15 and 16 February from five defence witnesses. At the end of yesterday’s hearing, the court announced that it would issue its verdict on 30 April.</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammar_Siamwalla">Dr Ammar Siamwalla</a>, economist and former Chairperson of the Thailand Development Research Institute, suggests that limits be placed on Article 112.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>
<p><em>A Statement from a group of Thai Human Rights NGOs</em></p>
<p>In pursuant to the arrest and prosecution of Mr. Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, labour activist and core members of the June 24 for Democracy and Editor of "Voice of Taksin" on the violation of Section 112 or lèse majesté law since 30 April 2011, and over the past ten months, his applications for temporary release have been turned down. Lately, Mr. Panithan Pruksakasemsuk, his son, has started a hunger strike to protest against the order of the Criminal Court to deny his father's bail though the request has been made seven times and sufficient deposit has been offered. His protest is aimed at demanding the right to temporary release of this father and the issue has been widely reported in media until now. </p>
By Asian Legal Resource Centre |
<p><em>A written statement submitted to the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status</em></p>