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Who is Somyot Prueksakasemsuk?
Note: 24 June 1932 was the day when the Khana Ratsadon (Peoples' Party) ending 150 years of absolutism under the Chakri Dynasty.
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk
(file photo)
Arrest and military detention
During the crackdown on the red shirt demonstrations in 2010, Somyot and Surachai Yimprasert, a history lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, were arrested and detained incommunicado at Adisorn Military Base in Saraburi Province, under the Emergency Decree declared by the then Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva. He was released on 23 June 2010 while Surachai was set free earlier in May.
Accusations and legal battle
Testimonies for and against Somyot
Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a member of the Nitirat groupNiran Pitakwatchara, former National Human Rights Commissioner (NHRC), and Surachai Yimprasert testified that the two articles do not contain references to the monarchy.
Somyot as a young man
(photograph provided by Sukanya Prueksakasemsuk)
Tiresome trial in four provinces
Many witness hearings on Somyot case were held in provinces in four different regions across the nation in line with the registered places of residence of witnesses. He was taken from Bangkok Remand Prison to prisons in Sa Kaeo, Songkhla, Phetchabun, and Nakhon Sawan during the trials. He told Prachatai that when he was taken to a prison in Sa Kaeo the food and overall conditions were better than Bangkok Remand Prison. However, it was overcrowded. They prison capacity was 800 inmates, but 2,000 were detained at the facility, so it was very uncomfortable. He said that because there were so many people in a truck transferring inmates from Bangkok to Sa Kaeo, he had to stand all the way.
Consistently denied bail
The stronger the principle, the longer the jail term
Court rulings
Daranee CharncherngsilpakulBandid Aneeya, a 71-year-old writer, was sentenced to four years in jail. However, given that Bandid has suffered from mental illness since he was a young adult and is now very old and suffering from other physical illnesses, the court decided to suspend the jail term.
A picture of Somyot by Ai Wei Wei
Many organisations issued statements for Somyot
Behind every great man, there is a great woman
Sukanya Prueksakasemsuk submits an open letter from her husband to Jacob Mathew, President of the World Association of Newspaper and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) during the 65th World Newspaper Congress on 6 June 2013 in Bangkok
(file photo).
prachatai.org
Note: 24 June 1932 was the day when the Khana Ratsadon (Peoples' Party) ending 150 years of absolutism under the Chakri Dynasty.
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk
(file photo)
Arrest and military detention
During the crackdown on the red shirt demonstrations in 2010, Somyot and Surachai Yimprasert, a history lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, were arrested and detained incommunicado at Adisorn Military Base in Saraburi Province, under the Emergency Decree declared by the then Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva. He was released on 23 June 2010 while Surachai was set free earlier in May.
Accusations and legal battle
Testimonies for and against Somyot
Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a member of the Nitirat groupNiran Pitakwatchara, former National Human Rights Commissioner (NHRC), and Surachai Yimprasert testified that the two articles do not contain references to the monarchy.
Somyot as a young man
(photograph provided by Sukanya Prueksakasemsuk)
Tiresome trial in four provinces
Many witness hearings on Somyot case were held in provinces in four different regions across the nation in line with the registered places of residence of witnesses. He was taken from Bangkok Remand Prison to prisons in Sa Kaeo, Songkhla, Phetchabun, and Nakhon Sawan during the trials. He told Prachatai that when he was taken to a prison in Sa Kaeo the food and overall conditions were better than Bangkok Remand Prison. However, it was overcrowded. They prison capacity was 800 inmates, but 2,000 were detained at the facility, so it was very uncomfortable. He said that because there were so many people in a truck transferring inmates from Bangkok to Sa Kaeo, he had to stand all the way.
Consistently denied bail
The stronger the principle, the longer the jail term
Court rulings
Daranee CharncherngsilpakulBandid Aneeya, a 71-year-old writer, was sentenced to four years in jail. However, given that Bandid has suffered from mental illness since he was a young adult and is now very old and suffering from other physical illnesses, the court decided to suspend the jail term.
A picture of Somyot by Ai Wei Wei
Many organisations issued statements for Somyot
Behind every great man, there is a great woman
Sukanya Prueksakasemsuk submits an open letter from her husband to Jacob Mathew, President of the World Association of Newspaper and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) during the 65th World Newspaper Congress on 6 June 2013 in Bangkok
(file photo).
prachatai.org
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