Overturning a previous conviction made by the Ratchaburi District Court, the Appeal Court has dismissed all charges against a 63-year-old woman who was dragged away by police officers after she protested during a visit by former Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to Ratchaburi Province in March 2023.

Wanthana Othong was charged with refusing to follow an officer’s order and causing a public disturbance. She reportedly waited for Gen Prayut’s entourage and cursed at him before she was tackled by two women police officers and dragged away by a group of plainclothes and uniformed police officers.

Wanthana sustained injuries, resulting in swollen and inflamed arms, as well as swollen and bruised legs, which forced her to cease working and caused a loss of income. Law enforcement officers reportedly also attempted to prevent the incident from being recorded by the media. She subsequently filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division headquarters against the officers. The complaint was forwarded to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and is still under investigation. The NACC said that it would wait for the verdict from the Ratchaburi District Court before proceeding.

In October 2023, the Ratchaburi District Court sentenced Wanthana to 6 months and 10 days in jail and fined her 1,000 baht. After being released on bail, she shaved her head in protest and filed an appeal.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said on Thursday (5 August) that the Appeal Court dismissed all charges against her on the grounds that the police action violated her constitutional rights to freedom of expression. They added that she was a single individual who refused to stand where the police told her to and was not likely to cause violence. As there was also no evidence that Wanthana was planning anything illegal or had weapons or sound amplifiers, the Court said that she should be considered a peaceful protester who the police had a duty to protect as required by the Public Assembly Act.

The Court ruled that, by resisting, Wanthana was protecting her rights and that the officers should have considered the fact that she is an older woman and treated her accordingly.