<div> <div>The junta has filed charges against eight organisers of the civil rights march from Bangkok to Khon Kaen for violating the junta’s ban on public assembly.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 31 January 20198, eight organisers of We Walk, A Walk for Friendship reported to Khlong Luang Police Station, Pathum Thani Province, to hear the accusation against them. </div></div>

<div>Scholars at Risk (SAR) is concerned about recent human rights violations in Thailand that threaten academic freedom and the higher education sector more generally, including the prosecutions of Professors Anusorn Unno and Charnvit Kasetsiri in apparent connection with their peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>SAR understands that Professor Anusorn, Coordinator of the Thai Academic Network for Civil Rights and Dean of the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology at Thammasat University, has been charged with violating </div>

<div>Organisers of the civil rights march are facing prosecution for violating the junta’s ban on public assembly. One organiser stated that the march will continue despite the lawsuit.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>An army officer representing the military filed complaints against eight activists identified as organizers of the march Monday. Police said they have yet to formally charge the campaigners, and one of them pledged to fight the case.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“We have been expecting this,” Anusorn Unno, who works as a university lecturer, said in an interview. </div>

<p>Renowned pro-democracy academics have submitted a joint statement to condemn the Thai authorities for the detention of Jatuphat ‘Pai’ Boonpattararaksa, saying the country’s judicial system has failed to safeguard human rights and the rule of law. &nbsp;</p> <p>At 11 am on 30 January 2017, leading members of the Thai Academic Network for Civil Rights (TANC), including Anusorn Unno, Puangthong Pawakapan, Yukti Mukdawijitra, and Pichit Likitkijsomboon, gathered at the Supreme Court in the Chaeng Watthana Government Complex.</p>

<div> <div>Recent ‘witch hunts’ as Thailand mourns its late King are the consequence of hyper-royalism, a culture of impunity and political polarisation, says a Thai sociologist. He speculates the hunts will last until celebrations for the new throne are completed. </div></div>

<div>Recent ‘witch-hunts’ as Thailand mourns its late King are the consequence of hyper-royalism, an impunity culture and political polarisation, says a Thai sociologist. He speculates the hunts will last until celebrations for the new throne. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The term ‘witch-hunts’ has been widely used on Thai social media since the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s death on 13 October. It refers to acts of vigilantism against those accused of lèse majesté or those who do not comply with nationwide mourning regulations. </div>

<div> <div> <div>Academics have condemned a school in the Northeastern Province of Khon Kaen for requiring kindergarten children to wear military uniforms, saying that it reinforces authoritarianism. A parent pitied her daughter wearing such uniform despite the hot weather of Thailand. </div></div></div>

<p>Despite protests, the House of Representatives is expected to go ahead with passing the Public Assembly Bill during its third and last reading on 27 April - a move that will curb people's constitutional right to assembly and give courts the power to decide whether a protest is legal or not. The Nation's Pravit Rojanaphruk speaks to Anusorn Unno, a leading opponent of the bill and lecturer of anthropology at Thammasat University, about what he's so unhappy about. Here are some excerpts:</p>