<p>Paris-Bangkok-Geneva, April 29, 2014. Thailand must release labour rights activist Somyot Prueksakasemsuk and promote a free, open, and informed public debate on lèse-majesté, FIDH and OMCT, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, and Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) said today. On April 30, Somyot, a UCL member and the former editor of the Voice of Taksin magazine, will mark three years in jail.</p>

<p><strong>On the Occasion of the International Thai Studies Conference</strong><strong>, Sydney, Australia</strong><strong>, 24 April 2014</strong></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7420/14002282941_60dd82de55_z.jpg" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2925/14025462953_be7842be64_z.jpg" /></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Prison visit to Somyot on 27 June 2013</strong></p> <p>Thursday mornings at 08.30 am are when Somyot and I have a regular weekly visit. Iron bars and secure windows keep us apart but can’t separate our souls. I was given Room No. 1, which is the last interview room in the row in Bangkok Remand Prison. Without hesitation, Somyot walked fast and looked straight at me and smiled; his smile made the world so bright and full of hope and peace. I was so relieved to meet him that morning.&nbsp;</p>

<div>(6 June 2013) Sukanya Prueksakasemsuk, the wife of magazine editor Somyot who is serving an 11 year jail sentence, submitted an open letter from her husband to Jacob Mathew, President of the World Association of Newspaper and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) during the 65th World Newspaper Congress in Bangkok.</div> <p></p>

<p>On 8 May 2013, the lawyer of human rights defender and magazine editor Mr Somyot Prueksakasemsuk submitted an application to the Supreme Court in Bangkok to refute the ruling by the Appeal Court rejecting his previous application. On 3 April 2013, the Appeal Court had rejected the lawyer's application for Somyot Prueksakasemsuk to exercise his right to bail. Somyot Prueksakasemsuk was sentenced to 10 years in jail by the Court of First Instance on 23 January 2013 on charges of publishing two articles with negative references to the Thai monarchy under the lèse majesté law.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>A group of activists wearing identical masks and t-shirts portraying themselves as prisoners held placards calling for the freedom to read, write and publish, amidst the bustling annual National Book Fair at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre on Sunday.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>Somyot Prueksakasemsuk’s request for bail was dismissed by the Appeals Court on 25 Jan, said his wife Sukanya after she went to the Criminal Court on 4 Feb.</p> <p>The bail request was submitted to the court immediately after the verdict was delivered on 23 Jan, she said.</p>

<p>The sounds of pretty drum majorettes, cheerleaders and whimsical music were blaring. The colour of pink on the shirts of hundreds of students was being paraded from Chula to a stadium nearby, where the Traditional CU-TU Football Match was about to take place. The once-a-year event is seen by many students as a chance to show their pride, unity and loyalty to their institutions.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>Jan 31 - A group of protesters calling themselves the Network for Protection of the Monarchy gathered in front of the office of the European Union Delegation to Thailand on Thursday morning, saying that they want to "lecture" the EU, explaining that the status of the Thai monarchy is special and not like that in European countries.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The recent 11-year sentence against Somyot Prueksakasemsuk relating to lèse majesté and Thailand’s defamation laws has, once again, brought into focus questions that seek to fairly examine the current status of human rights and freedom of expression within Thailand.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Jan 25 - Groups of political activists protested in front of the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road after magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk was sentenced to 10-years in prison for lèse majesté.</p>

<p><em>Condemning the 10-year prison sentence for Somyot Prueksakasemsuk</em></p> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>(25 January 2013, Seoul) People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) condemns recent ruling by the Thai Criminal Court on Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a Thai labour activist and human rights defender, under the charge of violating lèse majesté law. PSPD urges the Government of Thailand to immediately repeal lèse majesté law which threats freedom of expression and silence political dissents.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>