Police officers and soldiers have again confiscated ‘right to campaign’ balloons from pro-democracy activists in northern Thailand, threatening to prosecute the activists if they continue the campaign.
On Sunday, 3 July 2016, over 10 police officers and soldiers confiscated balloons printed with the message “campaigning is not a crime” from activists of the Free Maejo for Democracy group, a pro-democracy student activist group in the northern province of Chiang Mai, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported.
According to TLHR, the activists were about to release the balloons as a campaign to vote in the August referendum. However, the authorities approached them, saying that the campaign was a breach of the junta’s ban on public gatherings and the activists might face prosecution if they continued with the event. The activists then decided not to release the balloons. The authorities also took a photo of two activists’ ID cards before releasing them without filing a complaint.
Soldier confiscates the balloons from an activist (source: Free Maejo for Democracy’s Facebook page)
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