2 More Activists Arrested For Leading Anti-Gov’t Protests

Panumas Singprom, left, and Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree, right, at Samranrat Police Station on Aug. 26, 2020.
Panumas Singprom, left, and Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree, right, at Samranrat Police Station on Aug. 26, 2020.

BANGKOK — Two student activists were arrested Wednesday afternoon on charges related to an anti-government rally they organized on July 18.

The latest campaigners to be nabbed by police were Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree and Panumas Singprom, according to Yaowalak Anuphan, head of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group. Tattep was taken into custody in front of his residence in Bangkok, while Panumas was detained while he was on a roadside.

The warrant accused them of seditious acts under Article 116 of the Criminal Code for their roles in the anti-government rally at the Democracy Monument on July 18, which sent off a wave of rallies across the country.

Yaowalak also said that individuals who believed to be plain cloth police officers are trailing another activist, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, at Thammasat University. She is marked for arrest for issuing 10 demands of reforms regarding a revered institution.

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Both activists were taken to Samranrat Police Station to hear their charges.

Yawalak said police are employing a harassment tactic to scare off protesters from participating in the anti-government rallies.

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Several activists, including Arnon Nampa and Parit Chiwarak, were also arrested by police over the past weeks.

She believed Tattep and Panumas will be granted bail by the court.

Note: Some details were omitted from this article due to legal concerns.