<p>Chiang Rai Military Court has scheduled the first examination of witnesses in a case against an ophthalmologist indicted for defaming then Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn in June. &nbsp;</p> <p>On 11 April 2017, the Military Court of northern Chiang Rai Province&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=3981">held a preliminary hearing</a>&nbsp;for Sarawut (surname withheld due to privacy reasons), 33, an ophthalmologist accused of offences under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law.</p>

<div>Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a Thai government ban, imposed yesterday, on any online contact or interaction with three prominent critics of the regime – a foreign journalist and two academics – and urges all Facebook users beyond the government’s reach to share content from the Facebook accounts of these three critics. The ban’s three targets are Andrew MacGregor Marshall, a well-known Scottish journalist who used to be based in Bangkok, and Thai academics Somsak Jeamteerasakul and Pavin Chachavalpongpun. </div>

<p>The posterchild of the democracy movement in Thailand, detained for lèse majesté, has won the prestigious Gwangju Prize for Human Rights.</p> <p>The selection committee of the South Korean May 18 Memorial Foundation announced that Jatuphat ‘Pai’ Boonpattararaksa, a law student and key member of the New Democracy Movement (NDM), is the winner of the 2017 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Responding to a government warning that anyone who follows, contacts, or shares posts online with three prominent critics - historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul, journalist and author Andrew MacGregor Marshall, and former diplomat Pavin Chachavalpongpun - will be prosecuted under the Computer Crimes Act, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Josef Benedict said:</p>

<p>A Buddhist foundation has accused Buddha Isara, an ultra-royalist monk and a key leader of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), of royal defamation over a ritual to bless Buddha amulets.</p> <p>On 10 April 2017, Wichai Prasertsutsiri, coordinator of the Centre for the Promotion of Buddhism Foundation, filed a complaint under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law, against <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/category/buddha-issara">Buddha Isara</a>&nbsp;at the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.</p>

<p>The Appeal Court has once again refused to release an activist detained for sharing BBC Thai’s most popular story, which is now censored in Thailand.</p> <p>On 5 April 2017, Appeal Court Region 4&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=3897">confirmed the ruling of the Court of First Instance not to release</a>&nbsp;Jatuphat ‘Pai’ Boonpattararaksa, a law student and key member of the New Democracy Movement (NDM).</p> <p>The ruling was read after Jatuphat’s lawyer submitted a request to appeal the earlier second ruling not to release the activist.</p>

<p>BBC Thai has revealed that its controversial biography of King Vajiralongkorn broke records as the site’s most popular story, accumulating millions of views despite the article eventually being censored in Thailand.</p> <p>The biography of Thailand’s new King, published in December last year, has received over 3 million views and counting, revealed Iain Haddow, Executive Editor of BBC Asia, at a public talk on ‘Media Freedom in an Increasingly Authoritarian World’ on 29 March 2017. &nbsp;</p> <p>The biography has had 10 times as many views as the site’s next top performing story.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Authorities withhold bail from lèse-majesté suspects to force false confessions and promote fear, a renowned law expert has argued. In Thailand, the right to bail has been transformed into a tool of intimidation.</p> <p></p>

<p>The junta’s legal officers have accused one of the nine people arrested over the alleged plot to assassinate the junta leader of lèse majesté over a Line message.</p> <p>On 24 March 2017, Maj Gen Wicharn Jodtaeng and Col Burin Thongprapai, legal officer of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=3802">took nine people</a>&nbsp;accused of involvement in the alleged plot to assassinate Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and Prime Minister, to the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) in Bangkok.</p>

<div>The junta has restarted its restless hunt for Wuthipong Kachathamkun, also known as Ko Tee, an exiled hard-core red-shirt leader. The junta claim he is involved in a plot to assassinate the junta head. But who is he actually?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 18 March, a combined force of police and military searched nine houses and arrested nine people allegedly involved in a plot to assassinate the junta leader Gen Prayut Chan-ocha. </div>

<p>A provincial court has once again refused to release Jatuphat ‘Pai’ Boonpattararaksa, telling his defence lawyer to stop saying that his client’s rights are being violated.</p> <p>On 21 March 2017, the Provincial Court of Khon Kaen held the preliminary hearing on the case of Jatuphat, a law student and key member of the New Democracy Movement (NDM).</p>