NEW YORK, NY: (July 6, 2015) - Members of Unsilence Thailand and supporters demonstrated today at the Royal Thai Consulate General in New York City in support of the release of 14 Thai student activists currently detained by Thailand’s military government.
On June 26, 2015, 14 members of the New Democracy Movement, a network of Thai pro-democracy organizations, were arrested by Thailand’s military government for taking part in a peaceful, non-violent demonstration on May 22, 2015 to mark one year of military rule in Thailand. The fourteen students are charged with sedition and for violating the junta’s order prohibiting political gatherings. They face up to seven years in prison and will be brought before a non-civilian military court on Tuesday, July 7th. All fourteen students have refused bail in defiance of the Thai dictatorship’s authority.
“We are here today to express our solidarity with the 14 students arrested for fighting for democracy and freedom in Thailand,” said Bussaya Jamfar, a US-based Thai member of the Dao Din organization, one of the groups in the New Democracy Movement. “We demand the students’ release and join them in their call for a return to democracy in Thailand.”
Unsilence Thailand delivered a letter to the New York Royal Thai Consul General, Mr Pisanu Chanvitan, with a request that the 14 students and all wrongfully jailed political prisoners in Thailand be released immediately. The letter also called for the quick resumption of democracy in Thailand through free and fair elections and the annulment of the military-penned constitution, particularly Article 44 that grants Prime Minister and former Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha absolute authority.
“Sadly, Thailand today is a two-bit dictatorship where basic rights and freedoms are violated on a daily basis,” said Unsilence Thailand member Jonathan Griffin. "Thailand’s military government is persecuting these students like common criminals, but in reality they are just dedicated young men and women working to defend the rights of the Thai people from a vindictive regime.” The group also called for freedom of expression and association and all civil and political rights to be respected until democracy is restored in Thailand.
The 14 students, represented in the demonstration by masked protestors, are: 1. Rangsiman Rome
2. Chonticha Chaeng-rew
3. Ratthapol Surasopon
4. Songtham Kaewpanpruek
6. Pakron Arrekul
7. Abhisit Sapnaphana
8. Jaturapak Boonpatararaksa
9. Apiwat Suntararak
11. Panupong Srithananuwat
12. Suwitcha Thipangkorn
13. Supachai Pukrongply
14. Wasan Sethsitthi
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