<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><span><font color="#000000">Thai authorities and anti-government protesters should immediately cease using political violence to resolve their differences, Human Rights Watch said today.</font></span></font></p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma">Thailand</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma">&rsquo;s Government has an obligation to respect and protect the rights and freedom of all persons. All the Government&rsquo;s acts must be lawful based on rule of law and human rights principles. Restriction of people&rsquo;s freedoms is prohibited except by virtue of law. 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<p>The following is an 8 October 2008 press statement from the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), a founding member of SEAPA:</p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">The following is an 8 October 2008 Press Statement from the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), a founding member of SEAPA:</font></p>

<p><a href="http://bangkokpundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/tear-gas.html"><span style="font-weight: bold">UPDATE</span>:</a> <span style="font-weight: bold">17:00</span> <a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30085375">Reports</a> of an explosion in a car (car bomb ??) in front of Chat Thai HQ, one person dead. <span style="font-style: italic">Matichon</span> <a href="http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1223372118&amp;grpid=03&amp;catid=01">reports</a> that it was a Jeep Charaoke and it is alledged to be of a PAD supporter. Initial speculation from <span style="font-style: italic">Matichon</span> is that there was a bomb inside the vehicle and it was detonated by remote control.</p>

<p>Riot police launched a surprise tear-gas raid Tuesday morning to break up a siege and tear down barricades at parliament erected up overnight by supporters of the People&#39;s Alliance for Democracy (PAD).</p>

<p><font size="2">The websites of Mizzima News, an independent Burmese news agency based in New Delhi, India, have been hacked, rendering the websites inaccessible since the early morning of 1 October 2008.</font></p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">A candidate for Bangkok&#39;s gubernatorial post punched and kicked a TV anchorman on October 2 after a heated televised interview, media reports said.</font></p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">The TJA condemns the barbaric killing of &quot;Matichon&quot; newspaper reporter Jaruek Rangcharoen, 46, in Suphanburi province on 27 September 2008. The organisation also condemns those behind the murder.</font></p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">The Writers in Prison Committee (WIPC) of International PEN protests the detention of Raja Petra Kamaruddin, founder and editor of the website Malaysia Today ( <a href="http://mt.m2day.org/2008" target="_blank">http://mt.m2day.org/2008</a> ), who was sentenced without trial to two years in prison on 22 September 2008 under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for his critical writings published online.</font></p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Thailand&#39;s Court of Appeals upheld a two-year jail term on former Thailand Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej for defaming a former deputy city governor, media reports said.</font></p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) joins the Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (Movement to Abolish ISA - GMI) in condemning the continued detention of vocal blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for two years.</font></p>