<p>Thailand should dismiss the case against 22 protest leaders charged with insulting the monarchy and a range of public order offences, and adhere to its international human rights obligations, the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) and TrialWatch Expert the Honourable Kevin Bell AM KC stated.</p>

<p>Sao Nui, a citizen reporter who has already been charged with royal defamation and sedition, has been arrested again for singing a song composed by the band Faiyen during a protest on 23 August 2022.</p>

<p>Anon Nampa, a lawyer and critic of the monarchy, has requested the Judicial Commission and the Chief Justice of the Criminal Court to investigate Attakarn Foocharoen, Deputy Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, whom he accuses of meddling in his court case without having any authority to do so.</p>

<p>On 4 August, the South Bangkok Criminal Court granted bail for monarchy reform activists Nutthanit and Netiporn, who have been held in pre-trial detention on royal defamation charges for 94 days. Meanwhile, a traditional Thai dancer-turned-activist, has been arrested.</p>

<p>Police filed a fresh charge of royal defamation against a monarchy critic who took a swipe at a recent court ruling, a civil rights lawyer group said, while a politician faced a criminal complaint for referencing the political crisis in Sri Lanka.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In a new surge of detentions, six people are in jail in connection with the royal defamation law &ndash; five of them denied bail to contest the charges outside prison. A human rights lawyer said the move illustrates the authorities&rsquo; obsession with smothering any public criticism of the monarchy.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Royal defamation case defendants indicted for reading a statement in German and wearing a crop top said that they were unable to obtain passports because of their ongoing court cases.</p>

<p>After a failed attempt a decade ago to amend or abolish the section of the Criminal Code that punishes people for defaming, insulting or threatening members of the monarchy, new calls have emerged questioning the monarch&rsquo;s role in Thai democracy and have faced legal harassment.</p>

<p>Thai authorities should immediately release lèse-majesté detainee Anchan Preelerd, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) urged.</p>

<p>When protesters and members of the public again raised the issue of amending the lèse majesté law in November, political parties and affiliated think tanks responded in different ways.</p>

<p>Sirapat Deesawat, a Nonthaburi man charged with royal defamation for removing a gold-framed King Vajiralongkorn portrait from a housing estate entrance last August, may be tried in a closed-door session.</p>

<p>On 31 October, a protest was held by the Ratsadon group at Bangkok&rsquo;s Ratchaprasong Intersection to demand that the royal defamation law be abolished and those held for violating it be freed.</p>