Thailand: Human rights lawyer summoned over comments made on Facebook page
Event- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2015
- Event Description
The military's Judge Advocate General's Department has accused human rights lawyer Anon Numpa of publicising anti-junta information on his Facebook page. Anon Numpa, a volunteer lawyer for Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), told Prachatai on Thursday 26th February that police from Pathumwan Police Station had summoned him via telephone to hear an accusation under Article 14 (2) of the Computer Crime Act (CCA). Anon will report next week, he said. Article 14 (2) of the CCA stipulates that whoever imports into a computer system false information which may damage national security or cause public panic faces a jail term of up to five years. The accusations came after Lt Col Burin Thongprapai of the Judge Advocate General's Office filed a complaint with the police. On 14 February, the police accused Anon and three others of defying the coup maker's order against organizing an assembly of more than five people after a group organized an activity demanding elections in front of the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre (BACC) on the evening of Valentine's Day. On 19 February, the police interrogated Anon for about four hours about his Facebook posts which are deemed by the police to constitute instigating an anti-junta movement. "I'm not worried. The military may hope that the cases can deter my moves," said Anon. Anon also starred in the MV mocking junta leader Prayut Chan-o-cha.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Censorship
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 13.756330900000007
Longitude: 100.5017651
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On the 26th February 2015, human rights laywer Anon Numpa was summoned by police to hear an accusation against him under Article 14 (2) of the Computer Crime Act in relation to comments he had made on his Facebook page that the junta has branded as 'anti-junta information'. On the 19th February, the police interrogated Anon for about four hours about his Facebook posts which are deemed by the police to constitute instigating an anti-junta movement. UPDATE: On 5 March 2015, Mr. Anon Numpa reported to the police to hear accusations related to his anti-military Facebook posts, most of which involve charges pressed against him by a member of the Judge Advocate General's Office. During the meeting with police, the police asked Mr. Numpa to give them the password to his Facebook account, but he declined. Instead, he promised the police that he would submit written testimony within a month.