Citing weak evidence, a provincial court has dismissed sedition charges against three red shirts who were accused of hanging a separatist banner in Phayao.

 

On 18 January 2018, Phayao Provincial Court acquitted three red shirts of sedition under Article 116 of the Penal Code. They were accused of hanging a banner with a separatist message reading “This country is unjust. I want to separate as Lanna Country” in front of a school in Phayao Province. (Lanna was an ancient kingdom that ruled the northern part of Thailand.)

 

The three are Od Suktako, 66, Suksayam Chomthan, 65 and Thanomsi Namrat, 56. They are members of a local red-shirt group in Chiang Rai called “Mae Suai Loves Democracy”. In July 2015, they were found guilty of hanging a similar banner in front of a mall in Chiang Rai and received three years in jail suspended for five years. 

 

The court on Thursday ruled that the prosecution failed to prove that the three really hung the banner in Phayao. The evidence only showed that the printer used to print the banner in Chiang Rai was the same one that printed the banner appearing in Phayao. 

 

After hearing the verdict, Od told Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) that he was not surprised by the judgement because he did not commit the crime of which he was accused. He added, however, he had prepared a bail guarantor just in case.

 

TLHR also reported that the prosecution had placed a huge financial burden on the defendants because they live outside Phayao, so they themselves have to cover the cost of travelling to attend the trial, and also had to find money for bail. 

 

The three also face another sedition lawsuit for hanging a similar banner in Chiang Rai. They denied all accusations and Chiang Rai Provincial Court will begin the trial in June.