<p>Book launch and talk on "Autonomy and Ethnic Conflict in South and Southeast Asia" by Dr.Rajat Ganguly, Senior lecturer, Security studies &amp; Politics and International studies, Murdoch University, Australia, on Nov 13 at the Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University.</p>

<p>See video clips of a public forum on “Government and Politics in Nepal and Bhutan” organized by the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) at Chulalongkorn University on 6 Nov.&nbsp; Guest speakers include Dr. Nishchal N. Pandey, Director, Centre for South Asian Studies, Kathmandu, Nepal and Tashi Dorji, Editor and Managing Director, Business Bhutan, Thimphu, Bhutan.</p>

<p>A bill proposed by academics and citizens to change Article 112 of the Criminal Code has been dismissed by the Speaker of Parliament.</p>

<p>On 31 October 2012, Thailand’s Criminal Court in Bangkok dismissed charges against Mr. Surapak P., a defendant facing charges under the lèse majesté law (Article 112) and the Computer-related Crime Act 2007. It is very rare for a defendant to be able to convince the Court that the evidence used against him could have been fabricated. Prior to this, only one lèse majesté defendant, “<a href="http://prachatai.com/english/search/node/bento">Bento</a>”, was acquitted for similar reasons by arguing that the phone line used to access the internet was not registered in her name.</p>

<p>On 31 Oct, the Criminal Court acquitted <a href="http://prachatai.com/english/category/suraphak">Suraphak Phuchaisang</a> of lèse majesté charges, and released a summary version of the verdict to reporters.&nbsp; Here is a translation of the official summary verdict:</p>

<p>A man accused of lèse majesté by his own brother has been denied bail by the court for the second time since he was detained pending trial last month.</p>

<p>On 3 Oct, Prachatai interviewed the only son of <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/category/thanthawut-thaweewarodomkul">Thanthawut Thaweewarodomkul</a>, a lèse majesté prisoner sentenced to 13 years in jail, when he came with his grandpa to visit his father at Bangkok Remand Prison for the first time since the end of his school semester.</p>

<p>A woman and a guard for the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship have been sentenced to prison for detaining and attacking soldiers during red-shirt rallies in 2009.</p>

<p>A villager in Roi Et province in northeastern Thailand has been tried for allegedly distributing leaflets with offensive content, and expects to hear the court’s ruling in November.</p>

<p><em>The Constitutional Court has published its rulings on lese majeste defendants' petitions on whether or not the lese majeste law is in violation of the constitution.&nbsp; </em></p>

<p>Chiranuch Premchaiporn, Director of Prachatai, has appealed against the court verdict which found her guilty under the cyber crime law.</p>

<p>On 26 Sept, Michel Maas, a reporter from the Netherlands, testified to the Department of Special Investigation as a witness to the crackdown on red-shirt protesters in May 2010.</p>