For a couple of days social media has been saying that the military dictatorship was charging former Human Rights Commissioner Jaran Ditapichai under Article 112.
Prachatai has now reported that Jara has indeed been charged by the royalist junta’s regime. In some ways, this is not unexpected. The Dictator and his junta have long wanted to punish Jaran. Indeed, since the military coup, the regime has filed four charges against Jaran. He is charged with lese majeste and defying the junta’s order to report to the military.
More revealing are the charges that Jaran breached the Emergency Decree during the red-shirt mass protest in 2010. Yes, that’s four years ago. The final charge relates to the red shirt protest targeting Privy Councillor President and coup plotter General Prem Tinsulanonda in July 2007. Yes, that seven years ago.
The most recent charge, of insulting the walking dead, the “veteran political activist” is accused of having organized the play “The Wolf Bride.” Two other activists remain in custody over this play that was performed in October 2013 in remembrance of the 14 October 1973 student uprising. The arrest warrant for Jaran was issued on 26 August 2014.
The others caught in this particular lese majeste dragnet are Patiwat Saraiyaem and Pornthip Munkhong.
Jaran is in exile in Europe.
Political Prisoners in Thailand 
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