Appeal Court upholds ruling: army needn’t compensate for shooting activist

A human rights activist who was shot by the army in 2017 at a checkpoint in Chiang Mai is not entitled to compensation according to the Appeal Court. Yesterday the court upheld a previous ruling by the Civil Court that dismiss the lawsuit arguing that the army pay compensation to the family of Lahu human rights activist Chaiyaphum Pasae.

The court hearing lasted about an hour yesterday and was attended by legal representatives for the army as well as human rights defender Angkhana Neelapaiji and human rights lawyer Janjira Janpaew. It took place at the Civil Court which read the decision of the Appeal Court.

The Lahu are an ethnic Chinese tribe that is one of 6 hill tribes living in the north of Thailand with an estimated population of about 100,000 people, and Chaiyaphum was a teenage Lahu activist that was stopped at a checkpoint and accused of drug trafficking. Accounts of his…