Army squirms on 112

 

In a sparse report in .The Nation, the Royal Thai Army has defended the Article 112 case brought against academic Paul Chambers, and hang the consequences.

We suspect that the somewhat odd “defense” comes mainly because of military teeth-grinding that the opposition People’s Party is criticizing ISOC:

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) has defended legal action taken against an American academic for alleged lèse-majesté, while the opposition People’s Party (PP) criticised the move, claiming it has stalled trade negotiations with the United States.

Army spokesperson RTA spokesman Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree has released “a statement … to clarify…”.

PPT hasn’t yet seen the statement, but the report linked above provides no clarity at all.

Maj Gen Winthai criticizes ISOC Area 3 representatives for providing “incomplete information during their appearance before the House Committee on Military Affairs on 24 April.”

Actually, it wasn’t “incomplete,” but the claim – probably accurate and truthful – is causing criticism. So the Army has now decided that ISOC didn’t act under Section 8 of the 2008 Ministry of Defence Organization Act as it claimed to the parliamentary committee. Rather, Winthai reports the Army’s view that “ISOC Area 3 filed a complaint under Article 112 of the Criminal Code at Muang Phitsanulok Police Station on 27 February.”

Winthai went on to claim “that this article allows any member of the public to report lèse-majesté offences…”. It does, and that’s one of the problems with the loopy law.

Winthai also claims that “ISOC was alerted by members of the public who claimed Chambers had expressed personal opinions in a way that allegedly harmed the monarchy’s reputation.”

There’s no evidence that Chambers did anything like this and the Army knows it.

Winthai’s stament confirms that the lese majeste law is used to silence critics, even critics of the military.

Winthai denied allegations from the PP that ISOC invoked Article 7 of the Internal Security Act, explaining that the law applies only to special security situations, such as the insurgency in Thailand’s deep South.