After Mr. Sombat Boon-ngam-anong, leader of an anti-coup group, was sued for libel by General Saprang Kalayanamitr, Deputy Commander in Chief, he had this open letter published in www.nocoup.org. Prachatai reprints it here.

An Open Letter to Lieutenant General Saprang Kalayanamitr

Dear Commander of Army Region 3,

The reason I address you as a Lieutenant General is because it is the actual rank you have earned honestly as an army officer. The titles, "General" and "Deputy Commander in Chief ", in my opinion, have been obtained illegitimately. You have obtained these ranks by abusing your power and after committing a severe breach of the constitution. Almost right after your complicity in the coup, you were bestowed with these titles by being promoted from Lieutenant General to General and appointed as Deputy Commander in Chief. They are the honours you received undeservedly after the coup. Therefore, I wish to address you simply as a Lieutenant General as the highest possible honour recognized by me and people in this country.

It is such an honour for an ordinary citizen like me to be a defendant in a libel suit initiated by you; the alleged slander of the "Hero of the Era". I shall not avoid confronting you in this legal wrangle. I shall represent myself in the court as I have many things to ask you during the hearing. I shall very much regret it if I miss the chance to ask you the questions myself.

I would like to ask you how my action can be deemed an insult to your human dignity? (The case stems from the mock darts game during the demonstration led by the anti-coup group in which the portrait of the ranking army officer was used as the target.) Do you have any idea why people like me dare to challenge your honour and dignity? The outrage we have shown towards you stems from the looting of sovereign power from the Thai people by you and your cronies. This includes the right to have a constitution that should be protected by law. But people who are upset by your action simply have no place to vent their frustration and rage since we have no state power, we have no tanks, we have no force, we have no "class". So people are not supposed to show their anger, but are simply allowed to hand flowers to the officers stationed at the tanks?

If dignity matters to you, I would like to ask you to also respect the human dignity of all Thai people as well. Will you also recognize equality under the law; will you recognize that sovereign power should lie with the people? They are supposed to have the rights to choose people to rule the country; choose their representatives to speak for them in the parliament. Can the military stop interfering with the police and the administration and refrain from suppressing dissenting voices among people?

Your dignity and mine must be recognized equally under a legitimate constitution.

I was arrested in Chiang Rai by your subordinates. Citing their power under martial law, they pulled me down from the truck roof when I was publicly criticizing the coup committed by the Council of National Security (CNS) and the draft constitution. This took place before the referendum. Your officers were dispatched directly from the Army Region 3 and they told me that they would treat me as a national traitor. They threatened to use the most severe possible legal action against me. They promised to investigate my past from the day I was born, and even my ancestors. I know that you have been well aware of the arrest throughout.

Do you know how kind the Chief of Intelligence Bureau of the Army Region 3 was to me (during my detention)? He told me that it was so easy for him to trick me. He could simply plant some illegal stuff on me, like drugs, while I was detained in the military barracks. Just that, and I could just end up languishing in jail for a long time. He told me he just did not want to do this. I am somewhat confused whether I should call his treatment toward me "generosity". Similarly, you have given an interview that you have "lifted death penalties for many people". And as for your phrase "to use machine guns to kill dogs at Sanam Luang", I would like to tell you as a human being who has lived my life around Sanam Luang (the main venue of the anti-coup demonstrations) for several months, your statement simply shows how much you are in thrall to power.

Between the oppressed and the arrogant rulers who are drunk with power, who is supposed to define the term "human dignity"? And if each group just interprets the term based on their own judgment, how different or similar will the definitions be?

Last but not least, I want to declare to you that I shall disobey state power that has been obtained illegitimately, particularly by the political military group, the CNS. I shall do my best to prevent the succession of power among the CNS members and shall challenge the martial law that has been declared since the 19 September 2006 coup. This is to reaffirm the dignity of Thai citizens which should be given a higher regard than the security touted by the CNS (which is not real national security anyway). Please do not withdraw your case against me. This is an important chance for us two to meet in the court.

In solidarity with democracy,

Sombat Boon-ngam-anong
The Citizens against Coup Group
31 August 2007

 (photo from thairath.co.th)

Translated by Pipob Udomittipong