The EU yesterday hit out at Thailand’s junta for pursuing sedition charges against a group of anti-coup student activists, describing their arrest and prosecution in a military court as a “disturbing development.”
The 13 male and one female are part of a small network of pro-democracy campaigners who have dared publicly to challenge Thailand’s military rulers after they seized power from an elected government last year and severely curbed civil liberties.
They were detained on Friday last week after holding a protest at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument the previous day and were charged with sedition, which carries up to seven years in jail.
Photo: AP
Their case is being handled by a military court, which usually holds hearings behind closed doors. There is no right of appeal once convicted.
“The arrests of 14 students on the basis of charges brought against them for peacefully demonstrating ... is a disturbing development,” the EU said in a statement. “Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms must be upheld, and military courts should not be used to try civilians.”
The EU condemnation was echoed by the UN human rights office, which released a statement calling on Thailand to “drop criminal charges against” the protesters and release them from custody.
The students can be held by police for up to 84 days in pre-trial detention, although their incarceration must be renewed every 12 days by a court. The next hearing at Bangkok’s military court is expected next week.
Sirikan Charoensiri, one of a team of lawyers representing the students, said the students were refusing to request bail in protest at being tried in a military court.
“They reject the military court’s jurisdiction,” she said, adding that they have remained “in good spirits” since their arrest.
The refusal to seek bail appears to have caught the junta off-guard.
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