<p>Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) have pointed out that the legal procedure under the Military Court leading to the verdict passed on a single mother convicted under the lèse majesté law is ‘unlawful’ and violates the rights to a fair trial.</p>

<p>The Military Court has sentenced a 49-year-old accountant to 19 years in prison under the lèse majesté and sedition laws during a deposition hearing without informing her lawyer.</p>

<p dir="ltr">After the coup d’état in 22 May 2014, the National Council for Peace and Order had issued the NCPO announcement No. 37/2014 about offences under the jurisdiction of military courts, announcement No. 38/2014 about offences consisted of several connected acts under the jurisdiction of military courts, and announcement No. 50/2014 about weapons of war trial under the jurisdiction of military courts. These announcements included some offence to the power of military courts:</p>

<p>Thai anti-junta activists indicted under the junta’s political gathering ban have refused the jurisdiction of military courts in their cases, reasoning that they should be tried by the courts of justice.</p>

<p>A military court has detained three lèse majesté suspects accused of making false claims about the monarchy for personal benefit, one of whom is a well-known fortune-teller involved in organising the ‘Bike for Dad’ event.</p> <p>At around 3 pm Wednesday, 21 October 2015, the police officers brought Suriyan Sutjritpolwongse, aka Mo Yong, a well-known fortune-teller, Jirawong W., his close associate, and Pol Maj Prakrom W., an inspector in the Technology Crime Suppression Division, to the Military Court of Bangkok to request permission to remand the three in custody.</p>

<p>The Military Court has granted bail to a man with symptoms of psychosis who is accused of lèse majesté for submitting a statement calling for the removal of government officials.</p> <p>The Bangkok Military Court on Friday, 16 October 2015, granted 100,000 baht bail (about 2,822 USD) to Prajakchai, a 41-year-old man from the northeastern province of Si Sa Ket whose surname is withheld due to privacy concerns.&nbsp; He is accused of offenses under Article 112 of the Criminal Crime Code, the lèse majesté law.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In a deposition hearing held behind closed doors, a military court has sent an elderly man to three years in jail for writing messages defaming the monarchy in a shopping mall restroom.</p> <p>Bangkok Military Court, on Friday morning, 16 October 2015, sentenced Opas C., a 68-year-old musician, to three years’ imprisonment for offences under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law.</p>

<p>Four embattled anti-coup activists charged with violating the junta’s ban on political gatherings have refused to testify before a military court, saying the court does not have jurisdiction over their case.</p>

<p>The military and criminal courts for the first time have disagreed over which court should have the jurisdiction to try a lèse majesté suspect.</p> <p>The Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road, Bangkok, on Tuesday, 22 September 2015, ruled that it has jurisdiction over the case of 52-year-old Sirapop (surname withheld due to privacy concerns), suspected of offenses under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law.</p>

<p>A Thai military court has sentenced a man accused of defaming the Thai monarchy on a social network to 30 years in jail in a trial held in camera. The ruling is the heaviest jail term ever recorded for a lèse majesté case.</p> <p>On Friday morning, 7 August 2015, the Bangkok Military Court sentenced Pongsak S. to 60 years imprisonment for offences under Article 112 or the lèse majesté law and Article 14 of the Computer Crime Act (importing illegal content into a computer system).</p>

<p>A military court in northern Thailand has sentenced a man diagnosed with psychosis to five years in prison for destroying the King’s portrait.</p> <p>The military court of the northern province of Chiang Rai on Thursday morning, 6 August 2015, sentenced Samak P., a 48-year-old man accused under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law, to 10 years imprisonment after the suspect pleaded guilty as charged last month.</p> <p>Since the defendant pleaded guilty, the court reduced the jail term by half to five years.</p>

<p>I'm a legal adviser, so not exactly a stranger to courts. I've even been in Thai courts before. But I still find the scene surreal. I was in a Bangkok military court on 7 July 2015, and I'm talking to 14 young students and activists who face the might of Thailand's military justice system.</p>