<p>Chiranuch Premchaiporn, director of prachatai.com, an online newspaper, which is regarded by some as being pro-red and has been blocked since April, was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport last Friday on charges of lese majeste and violating the computer crime law over comments posted by other users. Upon returning from a seminar on cyber liberty in Hungary, she was driven straight to Khon Kaen province to face charges filed against her two years ago. She is now out on Bt200,000 bail and tells The Nation's Pravit Rojanaphruk about her ordeal. Here are some excerpts:</p>

<p>The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Ms. Chiranuch Premchaiporn, director of Prachatai online newspaper, was detained by the immigration police at Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samutprakarn province near Bangkok, and transferred to Khon Kaen police station, in northeastern Thailand. She has been charged with violating the Computer Crimes Act BE.2550 (2007) and Articles 112 and 116 of the Criminal Code BE.2499 (1956) (section of the code relating to les&egrave; majest&eacute;).</p>

<p>Map Ta Phut in Rayong district is a long-standing major industrial and manufacturing area along the eastern seaboard of Thailand. In June 2009, Map Ta Phut villagers and the Stop Global Warming Association sued eight Thai state agencies in relation to the ongoing health and environmental effects caused by heavy industry and manufacturing.</p>

<p>Pro-junta militias operating in Shan State are now the main players in the drug trade, according to new findings by local Shan analysts.</p> <p>The latest Shan Drug Watch newsletter, issued on 29 Sept, details how the Burmese regime&rsquo;s War on Drugs has fallen way behind schedule, with 46 of Shan State&rsquo;s 55 townships still growing opium. This is attributed to the Burma Army&rsquo;s reliance on taxation of opium, and its policy to allow numerous proxy local militia to deal in drugs, including methamphetamines, in exchange for policing against resistance activity.</p>

<p>The First International Conference on Human Rights in Southeast Asia will be held on October 14 and 15, 2010 at the Royal River Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.</p> <p>Dr. Sriprapha Petcharamesree, Thailand's Representative to the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) comments: &quot;This conference on human rights in Southeast Asia is historic as it challenges the existing norms in Southeast Asia. And it does this by providing a platform to contribute to righting the wrongs.&quot;</p>

<p>Thailand-based magazine, &quot;Irrawaddy&quot;, which is a leading critic of the Burmese junta, reported that its website has been under attack since midnight of Monday, 27 September 2010.</p>

<p>Paris-Bangkok, 27 September 2010 - On Friday, September 24, 2010, at approximately 2.30PM, the Thai immigration police arrested Ms. Chiranuch Premchaiporn, executive director of Prachatai, an independent news website, at the Bangkok Airport on charges of defaming the monarchy of Thailand and of violating articles 14 and 15 of the 2007 Computer-related Crimes Act and article 112 of the criminal code. Ms. Premchaiporn was returning from Hungary, where she had attended a conference entitled The Internet at Liberty 2010.</p>

<p>On 26 September, three years will have passed since Burma&rsquo;s military regime began its bloody crackdown on the Saffron Revolution. The spirit of the monk-led Saffron Revolution that moved hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life, particularly young generation of Burma to hold protests throughout the country and inspired hundreds of solidarity events around the globe.</p>

<p>Chiranuch Premchaiporn, an online news editor in Thailand, was arrested on 24 September under the country&rsquo;s 2007 Computer-related Crimes Act. She is being held in Khon Kaen police station in north-eastern Thailand. Chiranuch Premchaiporn is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression, and should be immediately and unconditionally released.</p>

<p>Chiranuch Premchaipoen, the editor of the news website Prachatai, was arrested today at Bangkok&rsquo;s Suvarnabhumi airport on her return from a conference on Internet freedom in Budapest. Police showed her a warrant issued by a court in the northwestern province of Khon Kaen accusing her of defaming the royal family and of violating articles 14 and 15 of the Computer Crimes Act and article 112 of the criminal code.</p>

<p>On the third anniversary of the violent crackdown on the &ldquo;Saffron Revolution&rdquo;, Amnesty International calls on the Myanmar government to immediately and unconditionally free all political prisoners arrested for their peaceful activism.</p>

<p>Draconian Law Allows Authorities to Violate Rights With Impunity</p> <p>(New York, September 23, 2010) &ndash; Five months after violent clashes between anti-government groups and state security forces, the Thai government still uses emergency powers to suppress fundamental human rights, Human Rights Watch said today.</p>