There was not a significant increase in the number of political cases during the last month of 2022. That said, the courts steadily passed judgments for the cases involving protests and expressions in 2020 and 2021. Among these were at least 6 lèse-majesté cases and 12 Emergency Decree cases in this month alone. Meanwhile, the […]
On November 8, 2022, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights together with 23 other Human Rights Organizations submitted a letter to various foreign embassies in Thailand including the members states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC such as the embassies of The United States of America, Canada, and Australia, the European Union member states such […]
30 September 2022 marks the last day of the effect of the declaration of an emergency situation to handle the Covid-19 outbreak in all areas of the country following the Cabinet’s resolution. First announced on 26 March 2020 and subsequently extended 19 times every 1 – 2 months, the emergency situation in Thailand was effective […]
The charge of violating the Emergency Decree announced in 2005 has been currently in use to prosecute political activists preventing protests, rallies, and demonstrations from taking place in crowded areas in which turmoil can occur. Since 2020, it is a charge used as a tool to restrict the right to freedom of expression and the […]
On 22 September 2022, Thailand’s Juvenile and Family Court read the verdict of “Mimi” an 18-year-old activist. She was the first child charged with violating the Emergency Decree for her activism at the #25Oct20 protest at Ratchaprasong Intersection. “The defendant was only 16 years old at that time and was interested in the nation’s political situation, thus, […]
In August 2022, at least 29 individuals are still in detention during their political trials. Arrests under section 112, the lèse-majesté law of Thailand’s Strictest Criminal Code continue to occur periodically with the police usually seeking arrest warrants from the court immediately without issuing summons prior to making an arrest . Additionally, the court continued […]
In July 2022, there has been an increase in number of people detained during trials in political cases, including section 112 cases. It is also necessary to monitor court decisions for many ongoing trials. Meanwhile, police have pressed additional charges against protesters of the Din Daeng protests in 2021 for the violation of the Emergency […]
In June 2022, politically-motivated prosecutions remain intense. The number of those prosecuted under Section 112 (lèse-majesté) now exceeds 200. Meanwhile, there has been an increase in arbitrary detentions of those charged with lèse-majesté and other offenses related to the “Thalu Gas” demonstrations, resulting in over 22 individuals being detained pending trials. Based on TLHR’s documentation […]
On 28 June 2022, via a video call, a TLHR lawyer “visited” Polphon after he attempted to commit suicide to protest his pre-trial detention. The court had refused his bail requests twice. His hair was cut short, and he looked a bit different – you can catch a glimpse of anxiety through his eyes. He […]
In May 2022, the number of politically related prosecutions increased only slightly. Most of these prosecutions are related to the royal defamation offence under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, which continues to be consistently used as the main allegation against activists and social media users. Issues related to the right to bail and the […]
In April 2022, the situation regarding political prosecution remains rampant, especially section 112 cases, which have rose by more than 10 cases putting the total number above 204 in the past one and a half year. At the same time, prosecution of political activities using the Emergency Decree have continued despite the tendency of acquittal […]
Since March 2018, the Ministry of Justice and Justice Courts have introduced the Electronic Monitoring (EM) device to track individuals in criminal and narcotics-related cases in lieu of a large security bail deposit. The aim was to improve the access to bail among economically-disadvantaged population in court proceedings. In that year, seven TLHR clients in […]
