More on Akechai

112Watch has a post on Akechai Hongkangwarn. While an academic fashion emphasizes “agency” and PPT is not at all sure it is an appropriate term in this instance, we do agree that:

The life of Ekachai Hongkangwan reflects the trajectory of an ordinary citizen thrust into the heart of Thailand’s structural political conflicts, questioning the boundaries of freedom and the judicial process. His persistent symbolic resistance amidst state suppression and deteriorating health in custody not only exposes deep-seated flaws in fundamental human rights but also challenges the contemporary discourse on “prisoners of conscience” and how their legacy will be defined in Thai history.

Akechai. Clipped from TLHR in 2019

Akechai has now been a part of PPT’s coverage since early 2011, and he has spent several years incarcerated as a political prisoner. He is currently jailed on a trumped up charge and is ill.

Back then he was arrested after a rally by a radical red shirt group led by Surachai Sae-dan:

This led to his first Article 112 (lèse-majesté) charge [for]… selling two items at the rally for 20 baht each: a documentary CD by the Australian broadcasting outlet ABC and a collection of WikiLeaks documents. The documentary focused on the Thai political situation, while the WikiLeaks files contained leaked cables from US diplomats. Ekachai maintained that his intention was merely to disseminate information from the perspective of foreign media, which he viewed as neutral, to allow Thais to access diverse information during a period of heavy social polarization. In this case, he received support from prominent intellectuals like Sulak Sivaraksa, who testified as a defense witness. The defense also attempted to subpoena high-ranking figures like Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda to testify, though the court ultimately declined and sentenced him to 2 years and 8 months in prison in the final Supreme Court ruling in 2015, making his incarceration unavoidable.

Read his story at 112Watch.