4 embattled anti-coup activists released on bail

The military court granted bail to four activists of the anti-coup Resistant Citizen group after they were charged with defying the junta’s order.

On Thursday, at 2 pm, the military prosecutor pressed charges against the four activists for defying the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Order No. 7/2014, which prohibits an assembly of five people or more. After the military court approved the custody petition requested by the prosecutor, the four were sent to the Bangkok Remand Prison while the lawyer submitted a bail request. An hour later, the military court granted them bail after they placed 20,000 baht as security.

The four activists are Sirawit Serithiwat, a student activist from Thammasat University, Pansak Srithep, a pro-democracy activist and the father of a boy killed by the military during the 2010 political violence, Anon Numpa, a human rights lawyer who volunteers for Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), and Wannakiet Chusuwan, a pro-democracy activist and taxi driver.

On 14 February, Resistant Citizen held an event entitled “The election that was loved (stolen)” which called for an election and commemorated the latest election on 2 February 2014. The four were arrested after the event ended.

Anon is also facing accusations under Article 14 (2) of the Computer Crime Act for his Facebook posts concerning the junta, while Pansak is facing 3 more charges for his leading role in a march on 17 March. They are:

  • Defying NCPO Order No. 7/2014 
  • Violating Article 14 of the Computer Crime Act
  • Violating Section 116 of the Criminal Code (Sedition)

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (THLR), the prosecutor has not finished drafting the case file against Pansak.

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