Following the Constitutional Court’s ruling that the call for monarchy reform is an attempt to overthrow the government, human rights lawyer and protest leader Anon Nampa has written an open letter saying that the ruling has made rebels of those who fight for freedom and equality.
Anon Nampa
The open letter was posted on Anon’s Facebook profile on Thursday (11 November) at around 19.00. It says that the Constitutional Court’s ruling has turned people who want a society with more freedom and equality and who call for monarchy reform in accordance with democratic principles into “rebels,” and affirmed that every demand for monarchy reform has been designed so that the monarchy stays within the bounds of a constitutional monarchy. If these people are rebels, the letter said, it is probably because they want to change from an “absolute monarchy in disguise” into a constitutional monarchy.
The letter also noted that the Constitutional Court’s ruling contains many inaccuracies, and that if any change happens in this country, the Court should be considered one of the catalysts for that change.
Anon is currently being detained pending trial on royal defamation charges relating to his participation in protests on 3 August 2020, 14 October 2020, and 3 August 2021. So far, he has been detained for 96 days.
The Constitutional Court’s ruling on 10 November that speeches made by protest leaders Anon Nampa, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, and Panupong Jadnok, as well as subsequent calls for monarchy reform, were an intentional abuse of constitutional rights and liberties in an attempt to overthrow the “democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State” sparked opposition from the pro-democracy movement. Immediately after it was read, reams of paper bearing the messages “Reform the judiciary,” “Reform is not rebellion,” and “Abolishing Section 112 is the first step to monarchy reform” were scattered on the steps of the court building. Activists from the Thalufah group also burned a model of the Democracy Monument to show their opposition to the ruling.
A protest also took place on Sunday (14 November) to demonstrate opposition to the ruling. The protest was initially planned to start at the Democracy Monument before marching to Sanam Luang. However, due to police blockades, they relocated to the Pathumwan Intersection before marching to the German Embassy.
An open letter to my fellow rebels
Today, they have slandered us and comprehensively judged us as rebels. This means that, right now, there are hundreds of thousands of rebels in Thailand, even though, in reality, we only wanted to change society so that there is more freedom, there is equality, and reform of the monarchy in accordance with democratic government.
Each one of our proposals merely aims to bring the country and the monarchy into line with a democratic constitutional form of government. If they are going to call us “rebels,” it is probably because we want to change the newly established form of government, which is an absolute monarchy in disguise, and return it to a democracy with a monarchy under the constitution, or what we call “a democratic form of government with a monarch as the head of state.”
In fact, the Constitutional Court’s ruling is inaccurate in regard to many facts, and there are likely to be academics expressing their opinions, and if any change happens in this country, consider the Constitutional Court as one of the sparks that ignited the change.
I am proud to have fought with you all from the first day, until the day I was put in jail. Whatever my original intention was, it remains the same, and if anyone dares to turn back the clock and return Thailand to a regime where one person has absolute power, does not listen to the voice of the people, violate rights and freedoms, I am happy to declare myself a rebel against that regime both in this life and the next.
Anon Nampa
Wing 4, Bangkok Remand Prison
11 November 2021
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