Jatuphat detention violates due process, says lawyer

The lawyer of the first lèse majesté suspect under the King Rama X has challenged a court’s decision to grant custody permission for his client, saying the hearing was done behind the suspect.  
 
On 28 December 2016, Athiphong Phuphiw, the lawyer of Jatuphat Boonpattaraksa, has submit a petition the Khon Kaen Provincial Court. The petition demands revocation to custody permission of Jatuphat, which the court granted two days earlier. The petition stated that the court granted the permission without asking the suspect’s opinion.  
 
Jatuphat, or Pai, was arrested on 3 December, only two days after the King Rama X’s accession. He was accused of violating Article 112 of the Criminal Code for sharing on his Facebook account a controversial biography of the King published by BBC Thai.
 
 
On 26 December, the court approved a third custody term of Pai. According to the petition, the court held a hearing and summoned Pai through a video conference because he is detained at Khon Kaen Central Prison. The court then read the Appeal Court’s verdict which rejected his bail request and then ended the video conference.
 
The court did not inform Pai about the third custody permission and never asked if he wanted to challenge to custody request or not. But the court approved the custody request, reasoning that the case was related to national security and the investigation has not been done yet. 
 
Pai also confirmed to Prachatai that the judge did not mention about the custody request during the video conference.  
 
“The hearing was done behind the suspect which is an obvious violation of Criminal Procedure. The lawyer team found this unacceptable so we has petitioned to nullify the hearing’s result” said Aphiphong. 
 
 
Pai is currently detained at Khon Kaen Central Prison

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