Thai Lawyers for Human
Rights is on the frontlines of challenging the junta’s clampdown on abuses
against the monarchy.
In an
unmarked building in a back Bangkok alleyway, a group of lawyers and
researchers prepares defense strategies for suspects accused of defaming
Thailand’s royal family – a crime punishable by three to 15 years in prison
under local law.
Established
days after the military usurped power in a May 2014 coup, Thai Lawyers for
Human Rights (TLHR) is now on the precarious front lines of challenging the
legality of the ruling royalist junta’s clampdown, including charges leveled
and abuses committed in the name of protecting the crown.
TLHR now
represents 27 suspects accused of lese majeste, approximately half the
number of cases lodged since coup-maker Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha took
power. His regime and its ultra-royalist backers have ramped up anti-royal
charges ahead of an uncertain royal succession, a wave of repression many fear
will extend beyond the crowning of the next king. While accusations have
generally targeted anti-royal sentiment, including over social media, they are
also being leveled to stifle anti-junta dissent and expose alleged corrupt
practices among aides and officials in heir apparent Crown Prince
Vajiralongkorn’s camp.
TLHR and
others have protested the junta’s use of military courts to try anti-royal
cases against civilians, claiming the closed door trials lack independence and
transparency. Of the dozen lese majeste cases decided since the coup in
which TLHR lawyers have provided pro bono legal defense, all have resulted in
guilty convictions. Because lese majeste defendants seldom, if ever, win
by challenging the content of charges – which often are not repeated in court
as doing so could be considered a crime – TLHR advises its clients to contest
the integrity or credibility of the evidence against them.
Often
retained through prisoner-to-prisoner referrals, THLR is defending some of the
most sensitive pending cases. That includes widely criticized charges filed
last month against factory worker Thanakorn Sripaiboon for casting alleged
aspersions at King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s dog, Thongdaeng, over social media.
Thanakorn also faces potential sedition charges for disseminating on-line
allegations of corruption in the military’s construction of statues of past
kings at Rajabhakti Park. A THLR lawyer who requested anonymity claims
Thanakorn has been beaten with water bottles and held in chains while in
military custody.
The
Diplomat could
not independently confirm the claims of abuse; Prayuth’s government has denied
all torture allegations, including the mysterious deaths in custody of three lese
majeste suspects held for claiming association with Vajiralongkorn for
wrongful personal gain. THLR documented 18 cases of torture since the coup in a
September submission in collaboration with the International Commission of
Jurists to the United Nations. “Lawyers in Thailand don’t want to be involved
in these cases,” said a TLHR attorney who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“They fear it will affect on their [other] jobs.”
Prison
authorities make defending lese majeste suspects a tough task by tilting
the legal playing field against them while in pre-trial detention. THRL lawyers
are only allowed to speak to their clients by telephone through thick glass
barriers, though confidentiality is compromised because their conversations are
known to be recorded. While discussing sensitive points, the THRL says she puts
down the phone and speaks through the glass to prevent prison authorities from
eavesdropping. “Sometimes I get harassed by prison officers,” the lawyer says.
“They always say ‘why do you dare to represent [lese majeste] cases?’”
THRL says
it works strictly by the law and steers clear of politics. That professed
neutrality, however, has not entirely shielded its members from official
harassment, particularly when its research and statements counter the junta’s
rule-by-law narrative. Last June, police ordered the Foreign Correspondents Club
of Thailand in Bangkok to cancel an event where THRL was scheduled to present
research on the junta’s alleged abuses. “They said our findings could be a
threat to national security,” said a THRL researcher, recounting the shutdown.
“We think people have a right to know… If we don’t speak out, no-one else
will.”
As lese
majeste cases become more politicized, THRL recognizes its risks are
rising. THRL’s circular questioning the circumstances and legality of lese
majeste accusations made against nine suspects for alleged plans to
violently disrupt the Vajiralongkorn-organized ‘Bike for Dad’ event on December
11 is a case in point. The charges claimed the suspects, including a senior
police official, also aimed to attack two “politically prominent” figures, presumed
to mean Prayuth and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan. THRL’s statement claimed
one suspect was tortured into confession, while others were denied access to
lawyers.
Media
paid the alleged plot short shrift, with many commentators speculating it was
manufactured to distract attention from the Rajabhakti Park scandal. It also
raised questions about whether the military and its royalist backers’ loose use
of anti-royal charges are helping or hurting the monarchy at a delicate
juncture for the institution’s future. “They truly believe what they are doing
is not wrong, is not a violation of rights,” said a THRL lawyer, requesting
anonymity. “They have this image of an ideal nation in their heads and they
will do anything to achieve it, regardless of human rights and their image in
the eyes of the world.”
THRL
believes its members have not been more overtly targeted due to their linkages
with prominent international organizations, including the European Union and
Open Society Institute, among others. But as royalist anxieties and passions
mount ahead of a delicate succession – witnessed in the recent lese majeste
accusations leveled against the U.S.’s top envoy to Thailand for a banal
statement about the law’s application – THRL’s lawyers wonder how much longer
they can safely defend those accused of anti-royal crimes without likewise
being considered enemies of the military-run state.
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