<p>Student activist Wanwalee Thammasattaya has been detained pending trial on a royal defamation charge relating to a protest on 6 December 2020</p>

<p>The ASEAN Human Rights Cartoon Exhibition, an online exhibition fearing 37 cartoonists from 5 countries and focusing on human rights in ASEAN, will be launched on 3 May.</p>

<p>Chukiat &lsquo;Justin&rsquo; Sangwong, a leading figure in the Thai pro-democracy protests, has tested positive for Covid-19 while in detention as a suspect under the lèse majesté law, the Department of Corrections confirmed on 24 April.</p>

<p>A police officer allegedly involved in the arrest of Prachatai reporter Kitti Pantapak during the crackdown on the 16 October 2020 Pathumwan intersection protest has claimed that he arrested Kitti because Kitti violated police orders by coming close to police lines, and that he was not able to distinguish Kitti from the protesters.</p>

<p>Four people currently facing royal defamation charges and detained pending trial have been granted bail: activists Jatupat Boonpattararaksa and Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, and two other people who were previously detained at prisons in Chiang Mai.</p>

<p>The Plastic Atlas report highlights the large and rapidly growing role of Asian economies as plastic producers, consumers, contributors to the plastic refuse deluge, and dumping grounds for the world&rsquo;s plastic waste. The publication also focuses on particular challenges facing the region, along with potential solutions.</p>

<p>A spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General said yesterday (22 April) that a criminal charge against Thanathorn Juangrungruangkit will be dropped. The former leader of the dissolved Future Forward Party was accused of running in the 2019 general election despite already knowing that he held shares in the V-luck Media company in violation of electoral law.</p>

<p>Thailand has been ranked 137th in Reporters Without Borders (RSF)&rsquo;s <a href="https://rsf.org/en/2021-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-vaccine-against-disinformation-blocked-more-130-countries">2021 World Press Freedom Index</a>, three places above its <a href="https://rsf.org/en/2020-world-press-freedom-index-entering-decisive-decade-journalism-exacerbated-coronavirus">2020 ranking</a> at 140th, while the Covid-19 pandemic has been used to obstruct press freedom in many countries</p>

<p>A Ministry of Digital Economy and Society representative filed a complaint against a trans woman for sharing a Facebook post of an academic critic of the monarchy. In another incident, a man was charged for a post in the &lsquo;Royalist Marketplace&rsquo; Facebook group, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.</p>

<p>Thai artists are joining the online campaign &ldquo;#DrawTheJustice&rdquo; to protest against the unfair judicial process and for political activists currently facing charges or detained pending trial to be granted justice.</p>

<p>Saw Lin Htet, an ethnic Karen student from Myanmar currently studying at Mahidol University, has been arrested in Myanmar after joining an anti-coup protest while conducting research, and has not been heard from since. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>