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‘Sedition’ charge puts three more Thai protest leaders behind bars

Monday, 08 March 2021 5:17 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 08 March 2021 5:17 PM ]

Thailand has imprisoned three more protest leaders on charges of sedition and insulting the powerful monarchy.

Krisadang Nutcharat, one of the case advocates, said on Monday that the criminal court had rejected a bail request for the trio, who faced charges of lese-majeste and 10 other offences related to a September 19 protest near Bangkok’s royal palace.

The bail denial was on the grounds that the people could commit ‘re-offense.’ Trials were set for March 15.

Last year, the state prosecutor indicted 18 activists for sedition.

Four activists are already in jail awaiting trial over the September 19 protest.

Criticism of the monarchy can be punished with 15 years in jail under Thailand’s constitution.

Since November 2020, the Thai government has ramped up a crackdown on anti-government protests, warning that “all laws” would be used against them, amid growing calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and reforms to Thailand’s powerful monarchy.

The youth movement has posed the biggest challenge so far to the premier, who they say engineered the rules of the 2019 election to keep himself in power.

Thai PM vows to carry on despite calls to quit

Thai protesters say the monarchy has helped enable decades of military domination of Thailand, most recently by approving the premiership of Prayut, who seized power in a 2014 coup and kept it after disputed elections last year.

The protests, which began in July, initially targeted Prayut but later called for the monarch to be more transparently accountable under the constitution.

Dozens of people, including many of the most prominent protest leaders, have been arrested on a variety of charges in recent months.

The prime minister has rejected calls for resignation.

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