Weekly Roundup Feb 10

Army to sue Somsak Jeamteerasakul for lèse majesté
 
Somsak Jeamteerasakul
 
The Army’s Deputy Spokesman revealed plans to sue renowned lèse majesté critic Somsak Jeamteerasakul because of Facebook comments critical of the monarchy. He also insisted that the Army’s duty is to protect the monarchy. 
 
Khao Sod online reported on Thursday February 6 that Lt. Col. Winthai Suvaree said the Army has sent the case to its legal department to see if any of his Facebook comments violated Article 112 (the lèse majesté law). This is because the army’s role is to protect and uphold the monarchy. 
 
Lt. Col. Winthai said that in the case of any act which spread false information in order to make people lose confidence in the Constitutional Monarchy, the Army needed to have its legal department consider action along with social sanction measures. 
 
He added that the Army urged all parties to watch out for anyone who defamed the monarchy. 
 
Somsak is a history lecturer at Thammasat University, Bangkok. 
 
 
Three children shot dead in latest Deep South conflict
 
Pattani student and youth groups reported, after interviewing the family, that three children of a religious teacher were shot dead on Monday in Narathiwat province by unknown assailants wearing black.
 
At about 9 pm on February 3, about ten assailants shot at the house of Jaemu Maman, a religious teacheri, killing 6-year-old Ilyas Maman, 9-year-old Bahari Maman and 11-year-old Muhayek Maman on the spot. Their mother, Padeela Maeyu, also a religious teacher, was shot in the shoulder. 
 
The villagers said Jaemu has an active role in the community’s social activities. He was previously detained on security charges many times. Whenever attacks took place, his house would be the first to be searched by the authorities. 
 
Many human rights organisations, including the National Human Rights Commission, condemned the attack against children. 
 
 
Poll: 60% of Isaan people more reserved about supporting political parties
 
An E-Saan Poll conducted by north-eastern Khon Kaen University revealed that 60% of a sample north-eastern population have become more reserved about supporting political parties. Asked which party they would vote for if all parties ran in the next election, 44.8% of the people surveyed said they have not decided, while 15% said they would vote no. About 40% said they have decided to vote for their preferred parties. 
 
Asked about the legitimacy of the latest election judging by the voters’ turnout, 40.2% said they were not sure whether it has enough legitimacy, while 34.4% said it was legitimate. 25.5 % had the view that it was not legitimate. 
 
About 91% of the people surveyed said they oppose military intervention, while 87.3% do not agree with the PDRC’s political demands. 
 
About 55% agreed with negotiations between stakeholders, as well as an appointed Prime Minister chosen from the Senate to form a reform council before election. 53.9% agreed with organising new elections in which all political parties would participate, and 50.9% said by-elections should be organised to fill the constituencies where elections could not be held. 
 
 
Charter Court urged not to nullify the election 
 
A voters’ network, the (Not) Independent State Agencies Monitoring Group on Friday February 7 submitted an open letter to the Constitutional Court against the petition to nullify the recent general election on February 2. The letter was signed by a few thousand people, the group claimed. 
 
According to the group’s representative Arusa Panyaklodkaew, the (Not) Independent State Agencies Monitoring Group is a network of voters from various professions who want to check the independent state agencies which “are not neutral, are negligent and have become the problem of Thai politics.”  The group vows to be the representative of people who are dissatisfied with these agencies, such as the National Human Right Commission of Thailand, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission, and convey their opinions to the public. 
 

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