Case Against Academics Who Defied Assembly Ban Dropped

Pakawadee Veerapaspong, left, and two others hold placards in 2017.
Pakawadee Veerapaspong, left, and two others hold placards in 2017.

CHIANG MAI — A district court in the north of Thailand said Tuesday it had dismissed a case against five academics and students charged with violating the junta’s ban on political gatherings of more than four people.

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The Chiang Mai court cited that the ban had been lifted by junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha. The ban, also known as junta order No. 3/2015 was lifted earlier this month.

Among the five charged, some were holding placards stating “academic panels are not a military base” in defiance of the ban on political gatherings during an International Thai Studies Conference in July 2017.

The five include anthropologist Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, writer and translator Pakawadee Veerapaspong and three Chiang Mai University students.

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