Prachatai has revealed a case of lese majeste that was previously unknown to PPT. In fact, based on figures released regarding the total number of prosecutions, there would seem to be several hundred lese majeste cases over the past few years for which no public details are currently available. This newly-revealed case shows how the lese majeste charge is widely used to discipline people at all levels and ranks in Thai society.
This is a remarkably revealing case on how the Abhisit Vejjajiva regime engaged in a royalist witch hunt, seeking to repress dissident ideas, and how having a UDD lawyer is seen to constitute an act of disloyalty.
In this case, which began in 2009, a Grade 6-educated farmer named Uthai (Prachatai withholds the family name ), aged 38, and from Thawat Buri district, Roi Et province “has been tried for allegedly distributing leaflets with offensive content, and expects to hear the court’s ruling in November [2012].”
[...] an earlier post, we briefly mentioned Prachatai’s story on a newly-revealed lese majeste case involving a [...]