Five protesters convicted for allegedly trying to block a royal motorcade on Phitsanulok Road during an anti-government protest on 14 October 2020 have been denied bail.
Ekachai Hongkangwan, Boonkueanoon Paothong, Suranat Paenprasoet, and two other protesters were found guilty on Friday (5 September) of depriving the Queen of her liberty under Section 110 of the Thai Criminal Code by the Appeal Court. Four of the defendants were sentenced to 16 years in prison, while Ekachai was sentenced to 21 years and 4 months.
Their lawyers requested bail pending appeal. Their bail requests were forwarded to the Supreme Court.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said today (8 September) that the Supreme Court denied them bail because, given the offence and the length of their sentence, it believes they are flight risks.
TLHR noted that the protesters have never attempted to flee. They have attended all of their court hearings. Ekachai and Suranat were also detained pending trial for 18 and 13 days, respectively before the Criminal Court refused to grant an inquiry officer’s request to keep them detained.
The Criminal Court initially found them not guilty, ruling that the incident was the result of a misunderstanding as the protesters are unlikely to have known that a royal motorcade was going to pass through the area. The Appeal Court overturned the verdict.
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