<p>A court in Bangkok has sentenced an anti-junta activist to four months in prison for tearing up his ballot paper during the referendum on the junta-sponsored 2017 Constitution, but later halved and suspended the jail term.</p> <p>On 26 September 2017, Phra Khanong Provincial Court sentenced Piyarat ‘Toto’ Chongthep, an anti-junta activist, to four months in prison and a 4,000 baht fine.</p>

<p>A provincial court has dismissed charges against a villager accused of land encroachment after the junta enacted its ‘return the forest’ policy.</p> <p>The Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) reported that the Provincial Court of Fang District of Chiang Mai on 21 September 2017 dismissed charges against Araya Saechang.</p> <p>She was indicted for encroaching onto a protected area in Ban No Lae village of Mon Pin Subdistrict of Fang District, Chiang Mai Province.</p>

<p>Chiang Mai’s prosecutors have postponed the indictment of academics and students accused of breaching the junta’s ban on political gatherings by participating in an academic forum.</p> <p>On 21 September 2017, the prosecutor at Chiang Mai District Court&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=5245">postponed&nbsp;</a>the indictment of the five individuals who are accused of violating the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Head’s Order No. 3/2015, the junta’s ban on political gatherings of five or more persons.</p>

<div>On 21 September 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that 13 leaders of People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), also known as the yellowshirts, must pay 522 million baht for leading crowds to occupy two Bangkok airports in 2008, <a href="http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2017/09/22/yellowshirt-leaders-fined-522m-seizing-airports/">reported Khaosod English</a>.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Upholding the decision of the lower court, the court added 7.5 percent annual interest to what the 13 owe Airports of Thailand since Dec. </div>

<p>Police officers have arrested a pro-democracy activist on his way to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).</p> <p>On 22 September 2017, six police officers arrested Waranchai Chokchana, an independent political activist.</p> <p>The police presented an arrest warrant for Waranchai issued in 2016, which states that he is accused of trespassing into the NACC building in 2014 with a political group to call for the NACC to stop its investigation into irregularities in the rice-pledging scheme of the Yingluck administration. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>A court has renewed the detention of a suspect accused of royal defamation although there is no apparent evidence linking him to a group of people accused of defaming Princess Sirindhorn. &nbsp;</p> <p>On 18 September 2017, the Provincial Court of Kamphaeng Phet<a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=5230">&nbsp;began the trial&nbsp;</a>in a case which four people have been indicted under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law.</p>

<div> <div>For pressing charges against human rights defenders in the Deep South, Thailand has been listed among countries using intimidation against human rights defenders cooperating with the UN, according to a recent UNHRC report.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 20 September 2017, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHRCR) <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22114&amp;LangID=E">published a statement</a> expressing concern at increasing reprisals against human rights defenders in 29 countries. </div></div>

<p>A radical Thai Buddhist monk known for his anti-Muslim rhetoric has been forcefully disrobed by the authorities after a brief detention.</p> <p>On 20 September 2017,the&nbsp;<u>Buddhism Protection Centre of Thailand</u> reported on its Facebook page that security officers on 19 September detained Venerable&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Watbenchama/posts/566952423453339">Aphichat Promjan</a> at a temple in southern Songkhla Province and reportedly took him to the Crime Suppression Division of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok for interrogation. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p>

<p>Families of the victims of the 2010 military crackdown have called on the authorities to revive charges against those responsible for the deadly crackdown, saying the case is not over yet despite a recent Supreme Court ruling.</p>

<div> <div>Silpakorn University (SU) has initiated an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment during freshman orientation activities, where students were allegedly forced to strip and shower together.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The allegations emerged on 16 September 2017 when Anti-SOTUS, a network that campaigns against human rights violations in universities, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AntiSOTUSPage/">posted on its Facebook page</a> reports it had received from SU Fine Arts students. </div></div>

<p dir="ltr">The father of ‘Pai Dao Din’ has given up hope in the Thai justice system, saying there is no point in trying to appeal the court’s verdict.</p> <p>On 18 September 2017, <a href="http://isaanrecord.com/2017/09/18/pai_appeal/">the Isaan Record reported</a> that Viboom Boonpattararaksa, the father of Jatuphat ‘Pai Dao Din’ Boonpattararaksa, a law student and key democracy activist imprisoned for royal defamation, said he will not submit an appeal request for his son.</p>

<p>An embattled human rights lawyer accused of royal defamation has challenged the impartiality of the court in his case, as it is related to the monarchy. &nbsp;</p> <p>On 18 September 2017, the Criminal Court on Ratchadapisek Road, Bangkok, held a deposition hearing for Prawais Prapanugool, a human rights lawyer accused of violating Articles 112 and 116 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law and the sedition law.</p>