By SEAPA |
<p>The Thai government announced on 14 May 2009 its plan to regulate<br />
the program content of radio stations and cable and satellite TV<br />
stations in the country, media reports said. </p>
<p>According to Anont Nampa, lawyer for lèse majesté convict Suwicha Thakor, the public prosecutor has asked the Court to extend the period for filing an appeal that should have ended on May 3, to June 1. In effect, the case is not finished, and Suwicha’s family cannot start the process of seeking a royal pardon.</p>
<p>‘And if the prosecutor files an appeal during this time, the case will drag on,’ said Anont.</p>
By Unqualified Candidates Were Selected by Secret and Illegal Process |
<p>(New York, May 13, 2009) – The newly appointed members of Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission, whose selection process violated constitutional requirements and international standards, should resign to restore the commission’s credibility, Human Rights Watch said today. Upcoming constitutional reforms should include a new selection process that will ensure independence, transparency, public scrutiny, and broad-based participation.<b></p>
By Susan Loone |
<p>MALAYSIA made history on May 7, for all the wrong reasons, and would probably go down in the Book of Records as the only country in the world who arrests its citizens for wearing black.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" />
"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">‘Please help me!<span> </span>I’ve no one to turn to,’ Thitima Thakor panicked over the phone in the morning of May 12.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" />
"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">‘What’s happened?’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" />
"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">‘Five days ago, Nui (Suwicha’s nickname) was transferred to Zone 7.<span> </span>The other inmates forced him to be tattooed.<span> </span>There are 37 people in his cell.<span> </span>Nui was scared.<span> </span>He didn’t yield.<span> </span>He told me if he was tattooed, he would kill himself,’ Thitima anxiously spoke of the latest situation for her husband, Suwicha Thakor, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for posting </span><span lang="EN-GB" />
"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#333333;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">lèse majesté</span><span lang="EN-GB"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" />
"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">content on the internet.</span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1241855586&grpid=00&catid=01">Matichon</a> reported an interview which Army Chief Gen Anupong Paojinda had with 100.5 FM radio station on May 9.</p>
By Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) |
<p><span><span>6 May, 2009 - CIJ raises concern over clampdown on anti-government expression</span></span></p>
By AHRC |
<p><strong><span><span>An Open Letter to the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for Human Rights by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)</span></span></strong><span><span> </span></span></p>
<p> </p>
By AHRC |
<p><span><span>The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kasit Pirom hosted a delegation of ambassadors from 15 EU countries on a two-day tour to meet with government agencies, NGOs and religious institutions located in the Deep South. Part of the tour included a visit to the Pattani office of the Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP), chaired by Angkhana Neelapaichit, on 3 May 2009. The visit, welcomed by WGJP, gave the group an opportunity to raise awareness on particular issues.</p>
<p>Kevin Hewison, professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, guests on Prachatai's online talk show <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/tv/chupitchtv/?ep=55">ChuPitch TV</a>.<span> </span>He talks about politics when Gen Prem Tinsulanont was Prime Minister (1980-88), and Thailand’s current political situation.<span> </span>The host is Pitch Pongsawat, a young academic from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political Science.</p>
By AHRC |
<p><strong>A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission</strong> - <span><span>Last Friday, May 1, the appointee Senate of Thailand elected seven new persons as the country's National Human Rights Commission. They are, Police General Vanchai Srinuwalnad, assistant commissioner general of the Royal Thai Police; Mr. Parinya Sirisarakarn, former member of the Constitution Drafting Assembly of Thailand (2007); Mr. Paibool Varahapaitoorn, secretary to the Office of the Constitution Court; Ms.</p>
By Reporters Without Borders |
<p><span><span lang="EN-GB">The Thai media has been buffeted by repeated political crises. Several journalists have been assaulted by demonstrators and scores of media have been censored for openly supporting the “red shirts”. But it has been a crackdown on Internet users and intellectuals for alleged crimes of lese-majeste that posed the greatest threat to free expression in the country.</span></span><span><b> </b><br />
</span><b> <span></p>