<p>Pro-democracy activists charged with defying the Thai junta’s orders have submitted a statement to the court of justice, urging the judicial authorities not to let military courts try civilians. &nbsp;</p> <p>Four activists from&nbsp;<a href="http://www.prachatai.org/english/category/resistant-citizen">Resistant Citizen</a>, a pro-democracy activist group, on Thursday afternoon submitted a statement to Bangkok’s Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court to call for the court of justice to resist the junta’s orders in letting military courts try civilian defendants.</p>

<div>The junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) on Thursday approved almost unanimously a controversial amendment to the Military Court bill.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The NLA performed its duty very efficiently by finishing the second and third readings of the bill within one day.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The most controversial element of the bill is that it allows high-ranking military officers to detain anyone without a court order or judicial review for up to 84 days in case of force majeure when the authorities cannot secure a military court order to detain the </div>

<div>The military prosecutor on Thursday indicted a 74-year-old man for lèse majesté, saying he insulted the King by merely asking questions about the constitutional monarchy. </div>

<p>You see, we need martial law so that we can enjoy the calm and order that has been achieved since the coup. &nbsp;(Well, as long as we ignore the south, but then everybody always ignores the south.)&nbsp; If we didn’t have martial law, who knows what mayhem and anarchy would result.</p> <p>And when the odd bit of mayhem and anarchy does occur, then we need martial law to put an end to the very thing that martial law was supposed to prevent.</p>

<p id="E24" qowt-divtype="para" qowt-eid="E24"><span id="E25" qowt-eid="E25">The military court on Friday denied bail </span><span id="E26" qowt-eid="E26">to</span> <span id="E28" qowt-eid="E28">a red-shirt suspect</span><span id="E29" qowt-eid="E29"> accused of posting </span><span id="E30" qowt-eid="E30">a </span><span id="E31" qowt-eid="E31">forged royal statement, w</span><span id="E32" qowt-eid="E32">hen</span><span id="E33" qowt-eid="E33"> the court </span><span id="E34" qowt-eid="E34">had </span><span id="E35" qowt-eid="E35">earlier granted bail </span> </p>

<p>(New York, February 13, 2015) –&nbsp;<a href="http://hrw.pr-optout.com/Tracking.aspx?Data=HHL%3d8%2c50%404-%3eLCE593719%26SDG%3c90%3a.&amp;RE=MC&amp;RI=4432086&amp;Preview=False&amp;DistributionActionID=72545&amp;Action=Follow+Link">Thailand</a>’s lawmakers should reject a proposed revision to the Military Court Act that would broadly empower the armed forces to detain civilians without charge for nearly three months, Human Rights Watch said today.<br /></p>

<p>In the case of the forged royal statement, a red-shirt suspect has to stay in jail because he cannot afford bail, while the ultra-royalist yellow-shirt media web editor walks free after being granted bail by the military court. It is considered rare for a lèse majesté suspect to be granted bail by a military court.</p>

<div> <div>10 February 2015</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Rupert Colville</div> <div>Location: Geneva</div> </div> <div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>We are concerned that a number of proposed amendments to the 1955 Act on the Organization of Military Courts due for consideration this week are not in line with international human rights standards. </div></div>

<div>7 February 2015 -- Thai authorities must immediately cancel plans to grant the military enhanced powers to detain civilians for several months without charge or trial, Amnesty International said today.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The National Legislative Assembly, a body appointed by the military which seized power in a coup in May 2014, will later this month consider an amendment to the Statute of the Military Court Act, which would grant military commanders powers to detain civilians for up to 84 days.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“It is deeply worrying that the Thai military authorities a </div>

<div><strong>Martial Law and the Military Court: Civil and Political Rights in Thailand (22 May 2014-15 January 2015)</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 2nd Febuary 2015, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) launched a new report, "Martial Law and the Military Court: Civil and Political Rights in Thailand (22 May 2014-15 January 2015)." Following the 22 May 2014 coup, the jurisdiction of the military court system has been extended to civilian cases. </div>

<p>29 Jan 2015 -- Three recent decisions by the Bangkok Military Tribunal affirming its jurisdiction over civilians violate international law and represent another serious setback for human rights in Thailand, the ICJ said.</p> <p>“International standards are clear – military tribunals are not competent to prosecute civilians,” said Wilder Tayler, ICJ’s Secretary General. “Military tribunals are not independent from the executive and the lack of an appeal removes any possibility of a remedy against the judgments of the Tribunal.”</p>

<p id="E23" qowt-divtype="para" qowt-eid="E23"><span id="E24" qowt-eid="E24">Bangkok’s Military Court dismissed a petition submitted by a prominent red-shirt figure </span><span id="E25" qowt-eid="E25">questioning</span><span id="E26" qowt-eid="E26"> whether the jurisdiction of the military court o</span><span id="E27" qowt-eid="E27">ver</span><span id="E28" qowt-eid="E28"> civilian cases </span><span id="E29" qowt-eid="E29">violates</span><span id="E30" qowt-eid="E30"> the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). &nbsp;</span></p>