On 2 May 2015, the detention of human rights defender Mr Muhammad Yaki Salae was extended by emergency decree. The human rights defender was originally arrested on 24 April 2015. He faces up to 30 days in confinement.

Muhammad Yaki Salae is the Chairperson of the Justice for Peace Network (JOP), founded in 2006 as a network of human rights and peace activists aiming to strengthen non-violent efforts to protect human rights, promote access to justice, and end impunity in Thailand. The JOP engages in human rights monitoring and advocacy while supporting victims of human rights violations in their fight for justice. Their work is focuses on the empowerment of local communities in the far south of Thailand, to aid them in their struggle for the realisation of their human rights.

The extension of Muhammad Yaki Salae's detention was ordered under emergency decree, according to which his detention may be extended for a maximum 30 days. The order came following the human rights defender's seventh day in detention, the maximum length of time a suspect may be held for interrogation under Thai Martial Law.

Muhammad Yaki Salae was arrested on 24 April 2015 at the Muang Yala Police Station, and brought to the Ingkhayuth Boriham Army Camp in Tambon Bor Thong, Nongchik District, Pattani, where he currently remains detained. The authorities falsely claimed his involvement in the bomb attack in the city of Yala in March 2012. The human rights defender was present at the police station at the request of authorities, and arrived there with the intention of displaying his innocence and cooperating fully with the police.

Risks faced by human rights defenders working in southern Thailand have grown over recent years. State forces act with impunity in the ongoing military operation targeting the muslim population in the Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala provinces, where human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, are common.

Front Line Defenders expresses its serious concern at the ongoing detention of Muhammad Yaki Salae, which it believes to be a direct attempt to force an end to his peaceful human rights work in southern Thailand.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Thailand to:

Immediately and unconditionally halt and cease the investigation against Muhammad Yaki Salae, and allow for his release, as Front Line Defenders believes that he is being held in solely as a result of his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights;

Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Thailand are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions. 

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