Broken King's Photo, Anti-Monarchy Students In Thailand Arrested

Illustration (Source: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - A student activist, Sirichai Nathuang, was charged with insulting the monarchy by destroying a photo of the King of Thailand Maha Vajiralongkorn. The verdict was ultimately protests from many parties.

The 21-year-old man was a student at Bangkok's Thammasat University. He is one of 40 activists accused of carrying out anti-monarchy actions since last November.

In the action, you can see portraits of the king spread across several streets in Thailand. Sirichai became one of the people responsible for the incident last week. Wednesday January 14th, the authorities arrested Sirichai.

But he rejected the accusations against him. "Sirichai denies all charges and will fight this case," said human rights lawyer Noraset Nanongtoom.

Noraset said Sirichai was accused by police of spraying a message calling for the abolition of the lese majeste law, a law which gives the king great influence, including being free from any legal charges. His client, according to Noraset, was the first of the protesters to be arrested under the law, while about 40 others were charged but not arrested.

Because of that the Noraset suspected that the Bangkok police were selectively cutting. But police spokeswoman Kissana Phathanacharoen rejected this. He said the police had acted according to the law. "There is no double standard," he said.

Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Forward Movement Party, Chaithawat Tulathon, revealed that they would try to change the lese majeste law. The promise was given that disciplining the protesters with arrests would only worsen the situation.

"The use of Article 112 in the current situation will only worsen relations between the king and the people in a democratic society," said Chaithawat.