Global Courant 2023-05-18 18:05:00
A 15-year-old girl who spent 50 days in juvenile detention for allegedly insulting the Thai monarchy was released on Thursday.
Thanalop “Yok” Phalanchai left the Ban Pranee Juvenile Vocational Training Center for Girls in the city of Nakhon Pathom, central Thailand, after a court refused, as requested by police, to extend her detention, the Bangkok Post reported.
Thanalop was arrested on March 28 for allegedly violating Thailand’s lese-majeste law when she criticized the Thai monarchy at a rally outside Bangkok City Hall in October 2022.
Demonstrators at the rally called for the release of political prisoners and the abolition of the prosecution of royal libel.
“By arresting a 15-year-old girl, the Thai government is sending a chilling message that even children are not safe from harsh punishment for expressing their views,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. earlier, when her group pushed for Thanalop to be released.
Thanalop had been jailed the longest of the 19 others aged 18 and under charged by police under Article 112 of Thailand’s Penal Code, the lèse-majesté law, the Bangkok Post reported, citing the organization Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).
However, she was not the youngest to be detained. A 14-year-old girl from the city of Phitsanulok, north of Bangkok, was arrested this week and released on bail.
The lèse-majeste law has been increasingly applied since the Thai military seized power in a 2014 coup, and many people have been sentenced to harsh prison terms.
Critics say the military-backed government is using the law to restrict freedom of expression, and the United Nations has repeatedly called on Thailand to change it.
But the government says the law is necessary to protect the monarchy, which is widely respected in Thailand.
The TLHR has reported that since 2020, at least 242 government critics have been charged with violating the lèse-majeste law during political protests.
