Hundreds Protest Detention of Thai Pro-Democracy Activists on Royal Defamation Allegations — BenarNews

Borrowing from protests in Myanmar against the military coup, hundreds of Thai pro-democracy demonstrators banged pots and pans in Bangkok on Wednesday to demand the release four of activists who were jailed a day earlier on charges of violating the country’s strict royal defamation law.

The activists who have led previous protests – Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, Anon Numpa, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk and Patiwat Saraiyam – were charged under the criminal code’s Article 112, Thailand’s royal defamation law known as Lese-Majeste.

There will be a “gathering of the poor to hit pans against the dictatorship” on Wednesday, members of the People’s Movement announced on Facebook after the activists were jailed. The gathering was the first anti-government protest in 2021.

“Courts and the government are still using Article 112 to get rid of…