Thai human rights defender and editor Somyot files an appeal

On April 1, 2013, Mr. SomyotPrueksakasemsuk filed anappeal against his conviction as well as a bail application. The court shouldreview the bail application and the conviction as a matter of urgency. April30, 2013 will mark the two-year anniversary of Somyot's detention. Somyot wasarrested on April 30, 2011, five days after he launched a petition campaign tocollect 10,000 signatures required for a parliamentary review of lèse-majestélaw.

The Observatory recallsthat on January 23, 2013, Somyot wasconvicted by the Bangkok Criminal Court under Article 112 of the Thai CriminalCode (the lèse majesté law) and sentenced to 10 years in prison on twocounts of violating the lèse majesté law plus the enactment of a oneyear suspended sentence for a previous violation in 2009 of the Printing Act.

Somyotwas convicted for allowing, as editor, the publication of two satiricalarticles, written by someone else, in the magazine Voice of Taksin(Voice of the Oppressed) that were deemed as “insulting” to the monarchy.Thailand’s lèse-majesté law prohibits any word or act, which “defames,insults, or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent, or the Regent”.This law places the country in contravention of its international legalobligations to uphold international standards of freedom of expression.

“This case is a test for Thailand's democracy.Launching a petition to review the lèse-majestélaw and the publication of articles that were subsequently deemed to becritical of the monarchy fall within the boundaries of opinions and speechprotected by Article 19 of the UDHR and ICCPR”,said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President. “Furthermore,an editor must not be held criminally accountable for articles posted by thirdpersons”.

“Somyot’sapplication for bail should be reviewed onthe basis of objective criteria.Pre-trial detention must be lawful, reasonable and necessary in all thecircumstances. Theauthorities have still not provided an adequate justification for his continued detention or a legally sound explanation as to why less restrictive and non-custodial measures are not sufficient to prevent flight and non-tampering with evidence”, said Gerald Staberock, OMCT SecretaryGeneral.

The repetitionof the ill-defined conceptof “national security” asa ground for rejectingthe bail applications ofthose charged under thelèse-majesté law reinforcesthe perception that thecriminalizationof speech is increasinglybecoming a tool ofto legalise oppression in Thailand, including against those documenting human rights violations.

TheObservatory recalls that in August 2012, the United Nations Working Group onArbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) found the pre-trial detention of human rightsdefender Mr. Somyot to be in contravention of international human rights lawand standards and called for his release. It added that the lèse majestélaws in Thailand “suppress important debates on matters of public interests,thus putting in jeopardy the right to freedom of opinion and expression”,which is protected by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights (ICCPR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).The UNWGAD called not only for his release but also for compensation to beprovided to Somyot.

Accordingly,the Observatory reiterates its call for Somyot’simmediate release from detention and an end to the judicial harassment againsthim.

Press Contact:

· FIDH: Audrey Couprie/ Arthur Manet: + 33 1 43 55 25 18

· OMCT: Delphine Reculeau:+ 41 22 809 49 39

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