<p>The denial of bail for Somyos Prueksakasemsuk is like a verdict in advance, even though the court has yet to determine whether the content in Red Power magazine is offensive or not as it has not yet been proved, said Suwit Lertkraimethi, member of the 24th June Democracy group, at a press conference on 4 May.</p>
By Reporters Without Borders |
<p>Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the fate of Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, editor of the magazine Voice of Thaksin, who was arrested by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on 30 April and was placed in pre-trial custody today by a Bangkok criminal court on a charge of lèse-majesté. A request for release on bail was rejected.</p>
By Somyos Preuksakasemsuk |
<p>Here I sit in a cell behind the tight iron bars, or a “jail”. All my freedom lost, I am held in custody just by myself and am barred from communicating with the world. It causes me unprecedented and deepest grievance, physically and mentally.</p>
<p>If I were a criminal or a murderer who had caused someone to die, or had stolen from others, or had committed a grave immoral act, then I would have deserved such a punishment, as I had committed an offence or had caused trouble to others.</p>
By Article 112: Awareness Campaign |
<p>Since 19 September 2006, a large number of individuals have been directly and indirectly affected under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, also known as the lèse majesté law”. Statistics from 2005 to 2009 reveal that there have been 547 lèse majesté cases altogether. 247 cases have reached a verdict. In April 2011 alone, this law has been used against Thai citizens in a wide number of occasions, as reported in the news. Here are the cases: </p>
<p>On 1 May, Somyos Prueksakasemsuk was remanded at the Crime Suppression Division. He was visited by red shirts and former Triumph workers.</p>
<p>30 April 2011: Mr. Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Founding Editor of “Voice of Taksin”, a magazine affiliated with the Red Shirts Movement, was arrested by the police at the Immigration checkpoint of the Thailand-Cambodia town today apparently on a charge related to lèse majesté or defamation of the monarch. His attorney dubbed this arrest a political ploy to suppress the opposition voices when the general elections are forthcoming. </p>
By Pravit Rojanaphruk, The Nation |
<p>Accused by some of being mentally unsound, academic Somsak Jiamteerasakul continues his calls for reforms</p>
<p>Thammasat University historian Somsak Jiamteerasakul is probably the most under-reported public intellectual in Thailand. That's not because he doesn't have anything to say; quite the contrary in fact. A vocal critic of the Thai monarchy and the country's lese-majeste law, Somsak has long been treated by most mainstream mass media as persona non grata.</p>
By Marwaan Macan-Markar |
<p>BANGKOK, Apr 28, 2011 (IPS) - History professor Somsak Jeamteerasakul has weathered a storm of insults since mid-December for doing the forbidden: he offered an alternative assessment of the most dominant institution in the country, its monarchy, in a forum at his university. Now military officials are dropping hints he could face more than just verbal attacks.</p>
<p>On 25 April, the Democracy Network made a public call for the abolition of Article 112 of the Criminal Code and an end to restricting the people’s freedom of expression. The call was made at the office of Red Power magazine at the red-shirt headquarters, Imperial Lad Phrao, in Bangkok.</p>
<p>On 27 April, the Military Court arranged the dates for the trial of a squadron leader who has been charged with lèse majesté. The trial will start on 14 July, and will be held in secret, allowing only the defendant and his lawyers to attend. </p>
<p>On 27 April, Fah Diew Kan editor Thanapol Eawsakul was summoned by the Crime Suppression Division as a witness to possible lèse majesté cases against over 50 people who posted messages on the magazine’s webboard about a couple of years ago. </p>
By Andrew Spooner |
<p>In the latter half of 2009, shortly after one of Thailand’s most notorious political prisoners, <a href="http://bit.ly/hbn5cV">Daranee Chanchoengsilpakul</a>, was sentenced to 18 years in prison under Thailand’s draconian lese majeste laws, an experienced human rights advocate contacted Amnesty International’s International Secretariat’s Thai-based researcher, Ben Zawacki. The reason for the correspondence was to try to get to the bottom of why Mr. Zawacki and Amnesty had been almost completely silent on Daranee Chanchoengsilpakul’s incarceration.</p>