<p>A letter has been issued by the crowd control police stating that the shooting of rubber bullets to disperse a protest in March 2021, when Prachatai journalist Sarayut Tangprasert was injured, was in line with the law and guidelines on the use of force.</p>

<p>On 20 March, protesters gathered at Sanam Luang demanding that the power of the monarchy be limited under the constitution. The police responded by setting up a long barrier of containers. The people faced retaliation after removing and passing beyond the blockade. Rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon were deployed broadly and indiscriminately.</p>

<div>On Monday the Ratchaburi Court acquitted a Prachatai journalist and the other four activists for campaigning against the junta's charter.&nbsp;After the verdict, many people congratulated Prachatai and said that the fact that the court dismissed the case is a victory of the pro-democracy movement. I however disagree. The verdict is actually a bad sign for freedom of expression in Thailand.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<div> <div>If you asked me if the decision by a military prosecutor to drop the lèse majesté charge against renowned historian and social critic Sulak Sivaraksa is good news, I’d say, ‘yes it’s good that the old man does not have to spend time in jail’. But if you asked me if this is a good sign for the state of freedom of expression in Thailand, I’d say ‘no, it’s not.’&nbsp;</div> </div>

<p>Last week, a court in Yala sentenced Nurhayati Masoh, a blind woman, to one year and six months in prison for royal defamation. The person who filed the complaint against her is Phiphatanachai Sakawi, who is also a blind and the&nbsp;president of the Blind Society Association of Thailand.&nbsp;Pipathanachai tells Prachatai that&nbsp;&nbsp;Nuruhayati's crime has damaged the reputation of blind people in Thailand.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<div><span id="E30" qowt-eid="E30">Note: </span><span id="E31" qowt-eid="E31">This piece was a response to the </span><a href="http://prachatai.org/english/node/4773" id="E32" qowt-divtype="qowt-field-hyperlink" qowt-eid="E32" target="_blank"><span id="E33" qowt-eid="E33">10 February release</span></a><span id="E34" qowt-eid="E34"> and dismissal of charges against </span><span id="E36" qowt-eid="E36">Jaruwan</span><span id="E38" qowt-eid="E38">, Anon, and Chat</span><span id="E39" qowt-eid="E39">, three people accused of creating a Facebook book page with </span><span id="E41" qowt-eid="E41">l </span></div>