<p>Tanawat Wongchai, one of the organisers of the &ldquo;Run Against Dictatorship&rdquo; in Bangkok, has been summoned by Bang Sue Police Station for organizing a public assembly without notifying the police according to the Public Assembly Act.</p>

<p>Authorities have been attempting to block spin-off Run Against Dictatorship events in at least three provinces, while the main Bangkok event has been forced to move from Thammasat University to Wachirabenchathat (Rot Fai) Park.</p>

<p>Amnesty International calls for an end to judicial harassment of the political opposition, human rights defenders and activists in Thailand, as authorities began new criminal proceedings against members of the Future Forward Party and activists because of their recent peaceful protests.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/thailand">Thai</a>&nbsp;authorities should immediately drop all politically motivated charges against opposition leaders and pro-democracy activists who held peaceful rallies in Bangkok and other Thai provinces, Human Rights Watch said today (18 December).&nbsp;</p>

<p>A participant in the flashmob on Saturday has faced online attacks and was fired from her job at the television channel MONO29 after the right-wing media site TNews posted her picture and profile on its Facebook page.</p>

<p>A new report by CIVICUS Monitor, a global research collaboration which rates and tracks respect for fundamental freedoms in 196 countries, shows that the assault on civil society and fundamental freedoms has persisted in Asia.</p>

<p>Manushya Foundation, CIVICUS and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) call on the Government of Lao PDR to remove all unwarranted restrictions on civic space in the country ahead of its human rights review to be held at the United Nations (UN) in January-February 2020. The review will mark five years since UN member states made 33 recommendations to the Lao government that directly relate to barriers to open civic space. As of today, the government has partially implemented only three recommendations.</p>

<p>Prachatai speaks to Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, on the importance of the freedom of association and assembly in democratic societies, restrictions on these rights, and the role of the internet in political participation.</p>

<div>The anti-junta march has called for legal protection after the authorities searched their supply trucked, detained four protesters and intimidated a temple that sheltered them.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 22 January 2018, the third day of the rally “<a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/7559">We Walk, A Walk for Friendship</a>” from Bangkok to Khon Kaen, the march organiser, petitioned the Administrative Court to grant them legal protection after facing repeated intimidation from the authorities.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Organised by a group of civil rights activists called the </div>

<div> <div>Three social events organised by anti-junta groups have been forced to cancel after the authorities repeatedly intimidated the owners of the venues.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The three events are a new year party in Samut Songkhram, a friendly football match in Bangkok, and a folk music concert in Bangkok. </div></div>