THAILAND
Bangkok Post-Apr 14
The authorities’ bullying of pro-democracy activists and students for their peaceful and constitutional gatherings has become both increasingly outrageous and ominously intimidating.
Most recently, this intimidation has come in the form of lawsuits filed against small groups of students and warnings issued through home visits to meet their parents.
On Monday, police filed charges against six activists for holding a peaceful gathering at Chiang Mai University on Valentine’s Day calling for a general election. The activists also accused the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) of conniving to prolong its stay in power and criticized its lack of transparency.
The case was initiated against them by soldiers who filed a complaint with police, alleging the activists had violated the NCPO’s order banning political gatherings. The six people, four of whom are students at the university, will meet public prosecutors on April 20 to find out whether the case will be taken to court.
As if such legal threats are not intimidating enough, a number of soldiers and policemen have shown up at the homes of four of the six protesters.
On Thursday, according to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group, three soldiers in uniform and two plain-clothes police officers paid a visit to the Chiang Rai home of Chiang Mai University student Jatupon Khammee, telling his parents to warn him to stay away from such activity. On the same day, parents of another student, Prasit Krutarote, also received two uninvited soldiers at their home in Kamphaeng Phet.
Earlier, groups of soldiers also met the parents of two other members of the group, who are not students, giving them a similar warning.
The same shameful approach was adopted in Bangkok. On Wednesday, three Chulalongkorn University students complained to the United Nations that soldiers and plain-clothes police officers met their parents at their homes, following their holding of a placard branding Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha a “dictator” during a recent public appearance in Siam Square.
To find out where they live, the police and the soldiers gained their personal details from the universities. This is unacceptable.
It is an abuse of official power to access personal information and pay house calls on those who choose to exercise their right to free speech. The visits must have caused distress to both the students and their families.
The response from government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd is equally outrageous. He played down the students’ complaints, saying this was a normal job and the soldiers hadn’t carried weapons or driven a tank into their homes.
But having to greet soldiers in uniform at one’s front door is not “normal” for anyone. It creates a climate of fear. And the Chulalongkorn students are right in saying that this act is an attempt to hinder freedom of expression, a right guaranteed by the Constitution.
Interestingly, Lt Gen Sansern said Gen Prayut had no problem with the Chulalongkorn students’ protest because it was free expression. Gen Prayut’s view seems to contradict the actions on the ground carried out by his representatives.
Gen Prayut should issue an order to all units of the army and the police to end intimidating acts of this kind.
The recent lawsuits against the Chiang Mai activists are just the latest in a string of charges brought against pro-election activists in recent months.
Since late January, more than 140 individuals who held or joined peaceful protests in Bangkok and Pattaya have been charged with violating the NCPO’s order and/or sedition.
Gen Prayut must be aware that the NCPO’s order regarding political gathering is not constitutional. If he cannot yet bear to terminate it, he must tell authorities on the ground to drop the charges against the activists and stop using the order to intimidate people.
(first published in Bangkok Post – https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1445934/pm-must-end-intimidation)
