Police arrested two people giving the three-fingered salute in front of Parliament in support of former PM Yingluck Shinawatra.

The police at around 13:30 pm on Friday arrested a man and a woman who allegedly gave the three-fingered salute, a symbol of defiance against the junta derived from the ‘Hunger Games’ movie, in front of the Parliament compound in central Bangkok.  

The two came to support the former PM ousted by the coup d’état in May 2014, who was facing impeachment before the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) at Parliament on Wednesday.

Yingluck faces impeachment over corruption charges in connection with her administration’s grave financial loss in implementing the rice subsidy program, which reportedly cost billions of dollars.

The picture shows that the middle-aged woman arrested for allegedly raising the three-fingered salute was in fact showing the 'I Love You' sign in support of the ex-PM in front of Parliament on Friday afternoon. 

The two were later taken to Dusit Police Station in central Bangkok. They were released without charge after half an hour of detention.

Shinawat Chankrajang, one of the leaders of the People’s Community Radio for Democracy, who was one of the two arrested, reported that he was told by a military officer at the police station not to put up any resistance because the political situation is nearly back to normal.

He, however, replied that he was simply wanted to show his support for the ex-PM because he directly benefited from her policy.

Another unnamed middle-aged woman arrested told the police that she did not raise the three-fingered salute, but just waved the ‘I Love You’ hand symbol to Yingluck.

Before the arrests, around 30 people who went to support Yingluck at the parliament raised three-fingered salutes and the ‘I Love You’ symbol after an unidentified individual shouted, “give me the three-fingered salute” while the police video-recorded and closely monitored the event.