Protests grow against government’s incarceration of political prisoners

More protests are being planned by pro-democracy groups after several demonstrations this week drew large crowds.

They are the biggest political public gathering in months as sentiment grows against the incarceration of political prisoners and alleged government misuse of the lese-majeste law or Article 112 of the Criminal Code.

The protests against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha’s government and the law reignited after 2 activists, Orawan “Bam” Phupong (23) and  Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon (20), decided to withdraw their bail and go on a hunger strike in jail in protest of their bail conditions and calling for the right to bail for political prisoners.

Many people in pretrial detention have been repeatedly denied bail while many people who were allowed bail have to wear electronic monitoring bracelets, they cannot leave their house at certain times, cannot join any political protest or make any political speech and cannot leave the country.

According to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), at least 1,888 people have been prosecuted since the movement began in July 2020. The majority of them young activists.

Photos by Kan Sangthong

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