Revolving injustice door

Some readers might have seen reports in some media and ion social media that Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep, leader of WeVo political group, was granted bail yesterday. He was. But he was immediately rearrested.

Bail was granted by the Criminal Court because the only charges were manufactured illegal association crimes under Sections 209 and 210 of the Criminal Code. The charges carry so little punishment if proven that his bail was just 45,000 baht. The court would have looked more ridiculous than it already is if it hadn’t granted bail. In addition, he’d already been held in prison for more than three weeks.

But, of course, this is the post-dictatorial dictatorship, and so to continue the political repression, Piyarat was rearrested before he left the jail, on “a court-issued warrant for alleged lese majeste, and violating the computer crime law during the launch of his political campaign in Kalasin province.”

It is really very predictable, with the regime determined to lock up as many of the protesters as possible, and lese majeste, they think, works just nicely for this repressive task.