Thong Daeng’s statue at the Dog Care Centre in Hua Hin District of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province (Photo from http://radio.prd.go.th)

On 29 November 2016, the Military Court of Bangkok held a deposition hearing on a case against Thanakorn S., a 27-year-old man from Samut Prakan Province, according to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) [1].

Thanakorn was indicted under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law, for clicking ‘like’ and posting or sharing a message mocking Thong Daeng on facebook. Thong Daeng, now deceased, was the late King Bhumibol’s favourite pet.

During the hearing, the military court read a statement from Samut Prakan Provincial Court, which concluded that the jurisdiction to try Thanakorn belongs to the military court according to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s announcement No. 37/2014.

In brief, the order states that crimes related to national security are to be tried by military courts.

Thanakorn was arrested at his house in Samut Prakan Province on 8 December 2015 by military and police officers who invoked Section 44 of the Interim Constitution. Section 44 gives the Head of the National Council for Peace and Order absolute authority for the purpose of maintain national security.

Thanakorn was detained for about three months before Bangkok’s Military Court granted him 500,000 baht bail.

The lèse majesté suspect also faces charges under Article 14 of the 2007 Computer Crime Act for the alleged lèse majesté post. In an unrelated case, he also faces charges under Article 116 of the Criminal Code — the sedition law — for having posted an infographic on the Rajabhakti Park corruption scandal on Facebook [see below].

The military court and Samut Prakan provincial court, however, disagree on certain details about the lèse majesté case. The Court Jurisdiction Committee will make a final decision about the disagreements.

Thanakorn has been ordained as a Buddhist monk since May 2016.

Prachatai

* Prachatai. Posted: 30 Nov 2016 12:11 AM PST:
http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/6748

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 Media sues Thai army over Rajabhakti park

Thaipublica, a news agency known for its investigations into corruption, has sued the Thai army over alleged irregularities in the construction of Rajabhakti Park.

On 12 September 2016, the Administrative Court accepted a lawsuit filed by Thaipublica against the Royal Thai Army (RTA), Thaipublica reported [2].

The news agency asked the court to demand that the RTA disclose information about the base price and other procedures related to the construction of gigantic monuments commemorating seven past monarchs being featured in the royal theme park in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.

If the base price cannot be revealed, the RTA should publicly explain why such information cannot be disclosed, as assurance that both the allocated public budget and donations to the project were used accountably.

On 14 September, Thaipublica also submitted an appeal request to the Office of the Official Information Commission (OIC) to obtain information about the sub-contractors of the park, as well as the findings of a committee set up by the Thai army to probe the park corruption allegations.

The news agency submitted the request for such information in December 2015, making use of the Official Information Act. However, in August 2016, the Information Department of the Ministry of Defence refused to disclose the information.

While the corruption scandal has surrounded the park since 2015, the Royal Thai Army and the Defence Ministry still have not clarified the base price of Rajabhakti Park’s construction and information about its sub-contractors.

Rumours have spread that some 20 million baht (about 573,600 USD) was taken from the park’s budget in the form of ‘commissions’. However, the Office of the Auditor General of Thailand has stated the 20 million baht was used to cover the cost of advisors to the park construction project.

The Rajabhakti Park construction project, costing about a billion baht (about 28 million USD), was initiated and overseen by Gen Udomdej Sitabutr, former chief of the Royal Thai Army and current Deputy Defence Minister.

After a lengthy probe into the park corruption scandal, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) concluded on 7 September 2016 that no trace of corruption was found in the construction overseen by the Thai army.

But the NACC’s ruling contradicts the statement of the Deputy Defence Minister who admitted in November last year that the project was rife with corruption — as many media outlets have reported.

Prachatai

* Prachatai. Mon, 19/09/2016 - 12:06:
http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/6574

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 Thai activists vow to fight defamation charges against military as case continues

Embattled Thai human rights activists insist their innocence as they continue to fight against lawsuits filed by the military.

The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) had earlier sued them for online defamation after their human rights report alleged abuses against civilians in the restive Deep South by the army.

The three activists are; Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), Somchai Homla-or, Advisor of the CrCF, and Anchana Heemmina, President of the Duay Jai group.

The three met the police to submit statements insisting that their report accurately documented evidences of torture in Thailand’s restive deep south during 2014-2015 and continue to deny charges.

The report titled ‘Torture and ill treatment in Thailand’s Deep South’, published by Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) in February 2016, documented 54 cases of torture victims who were tortured through different methods including waterboarding, electric shocks, foot roasting, and sexual assaults.

The activists could face up to seven years imprisonment if found guilty under the defamation law and the Computer Crime Act.

Under the current military government, Thailand saw increasing number of human rights activists being charged in similar fashion to silence critics and dissidents. Andy Hall, a British activist, recently left the country for fear of safety after he received four criminal and civil lawsuits for exposing abuses of the Burmese migrant workers in Thai factories. Hall was also sentenced for three years and 150,000 baht fine (€3856) in one of the cases.

“The charges are used to shut the human rights defenders up but we will not back down from exposing rights violation,” said Somchai Hom-Laor, CrCF advisor, who was one of the three accused. “For the conflict-ridden region like the deep south, we need to expose human rights violations to bring true peace,” Somchai told Prachatai.

(From left to right) Somchai Homla-or, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, and Anchana Heemmina (file photo)

Suluck Lamubol

* Prachatai. Mon, 28/11/2016 - 07:12:
http://prachatai.org/english/node/6742

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 Embattled lèse majesté suspect gets 2 years suspended jail term

A military court has delivered two years suspended term to a lèse majesté suspect who refused to comply with the junta’s order.

On 25 November 2016, Bangkok Military Court ruled Sirapop (surname withheld for privacy concerns) guilty of breaching the junta’s orders. The court delivered eight months jail term and a 18,000 baht fine. However, since the defendant has well cooperated with investigation process and never committed a serious crime before, the court handed him two years suspended term, reported iLaw.

Sirapop is a poet and anti-junta activist. After the junta took the power in 2014, he was summoned together with other junta’s political dissidents but he refused to report, saying he does not accept the junta power.

He was arrested on 25 June 2014 in northeastern Kalasin Province, while he was attempting to flee to a neighbouring country. indicted for violating the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Order No. 44/2014 and the NCPO’s announcements No. 37/2014 and 41/2014 for not reporting to the military.

Apart from breaching the junta’s orders, Sirapop was also accused of lèse majesté.

After being arrested, he was accused of posting messages deemed as constituting lèse majesté on the Internet. He has since been detained in the Bangkok Remand Prison. The military court has repeatedly denied his bail, citing flight risk and the severity of the charge.

He has been jailed for 2 years and six month in total and still fighting on his lèse majesté lawsuit.

Prachatai

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 11:59 AM PST

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