Claus Knight |
Bangkok (EFE) .
Orawan Phuphong, 23, and Tantawan Tuatulanon, 21, stopped eating and drinking on 18 January, two days after they returned to prison after waiving their bail, in protest at the “disproportionate” treatment they justice applies against those accused of political charges.
Both, charged with the crime of lèse majesté -penalized with up to 15 years in prison- for carrying out a street survey in 2022 on the traffic cuts caused by the royal entourage, demand, among other points, that the draconian conditions that the courts impose activists under provisional release.
“Their health is deteriorating, they remain stable, but the doctors warn that if they do not end their hunger strike soon, they could reach a point of no return and suffer lifelong consequences,” lawyer Kunthika Nutcharus told EFE. , who represents Tantawan and other activists.
Tantawan, who already went without food for 37 days while in pretrial detention last year, also faces a previous charge of lèse majeste for a speech he made during a Facebook live broadcast.
Judicial harassment against the democratic movement
The young women are part of the student movement that since 2020 has been demanding, in some cases with massive demonstrations, a deep democratic reform in Thailand, which even reaches the all-powerful monarchy.
With the aim of extinguishing the reformist current, the justice system launched a relentless judicial offensive for which almost 1,900 people -including 284 minors- have been charged with crimes related to the protests or their political expressions, according to figures from the NGO Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
Among the mechanisms used by the judges to silence the protesters is the application of tougher conditions to grant provisional release, such as the obligation to wear an ankle control device or the prohibition to leave the house without permission -except in cases of disease-.
Nor are they allowed to participate in acts similar to those charged, or in activities that may cause public unrest or cause damage to the Crown.
“These disproportionate and excessive conditions ordered by a court have destroyed the lives of these two girls for a crime related to their freedom of expression”, maintains the lawyer who compares the conditions with “house arrest” and describes them as “punishment and torture ”.
Both got fed up with living like this and decided to withdraw their bail to return to jail on January 16, from where, after beginning their extreme hunger strike, they were transferred to Thammasat University Hospital in Bangkok.
“They were out of jail, but in another prison. They had no real freedom, ”stresses the lawyer.
Other claims
The two young women, who again rejected provisional release approved by a court at the beginning of the month, also demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners – eight currently in provisional detention – and the abolition of the lèse majesté law – which protects all criticism of the Royal House of Thailand.
“The court is not interested in the lives of these young women, what worries them is that someone dies under their guardianship,” maintains the Thai lawyer.
The protest initiated by these two activists has opened a political debate, a few months before the general elections are held, where some opposition parties unsuccessfully demand an urgent reform of the judicial system.
In addition, since these women in their twenties began their hunger strike, at least 34 activists prosecuted on political charges -such as lese majesty or sedition- have been stripped of the electronic control devices to which they were subject, while the courts have granted the provisional release to activists who had been demanding it for months.
“It is tragic that these young women feel that they have to risk their lives to fight for their beliefs. Regardless of what is thought of their ideas, they must be allowed to express them freely, as would happen in a truly democratic country,” former Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, a member of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights NGO, recently claimed.
The lawyer, who frequently visits the young women, extols the altruism and courage of the activists on hunger strike.
“They say that after all this is over and their demands are met, they just want to walk away and not talk about it anymore. They are not looking for any fame, ”she remarks.