Bangkok: Thailand's junta is increasingly turning to a tough sedition law to silence its critics, a report warned on Wednesday, setting a dangerous legal precedent for future governments.
At least 30 people have been charged with sedition since a military coup in May 2014, with most of the cases filed in 2015, according to iLaw, an advocacy group monitoring legal cases in Thailand.
The charges, which carry up to seven years in prison, have been brought against peaceful anti-junta activists, as well as those accused of spreading rumours about alleged military corruption on Facebook.
The sedition law -- article 116 of the Thai penal code -- is being used because it "carries a hefty punishment", a high bail and "falls under the jurisdiction of the military court," the iLaw report said.
Decisions by army tribunals can not be appealed and rights groups say sentences are routinely stiffer than those handed out by civilian courts.
The junta has used special emergency powers to pass a litany of laws to restrict political expression since it seized power.
The rise in sedition charges suggests a new effort to hunt critics with standard laws drawn from the kingdom's criminal code, according to rights campaigners.
The law was "very rarely" used in the recent past, said Sunai Phasuk, Human Rights Watch's Thailand researcher, cautioning that it set a "precedent" for future governments who may want to stifle dissent.
"The interpretation of the offence has been stretched to restrict and criminalise peaceful political activity that opposes, or even questions, the conduct of the regime," he added.
But junta spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree played down the significance of the sedition law, calling it a "normal procedure" following a criminal offence.
Most of the sedition charges in late 2015 were tied to an alleged corruption scandal linked to Rajabhakti Park, a multi-million dollar memorial to Thai kings built by the army.
Three Facebook users were arrested and charged with the offence last month for sharing posts about alleged corruption in the construction of the park, which was overseen by a former army chief.
An internal military probe has cleared the army of any wrongdoing. But the allegations have stung the military that seized power pledging to rid the kingdom of rampant corruption.
"Thailand's military is today deforming and twisting the law to serve the purpose of shielding those soldiers possibly involved in corruption from investigations," according to Paul Chambers of the Institute of South East Asian Affairs in Chiang Mai.
The military has also overseen a surge in prosecutions for royal defamation, an offence that carries up to 15 years for each charge.
Many of the charges have targeted opponents of the military government.
AFP
