15 December 2015•Update: 15 December 2015
By CS Thana
BANGKOK
Rights group demanded Tuesday that the Thai junta release a student has been detained since being taken from his hospital bed before a medical operation.
Human Rights Watch led a chorus of condemnation at the junta for detaining 25-year-old Thanet Anantawong while he was awaiting an operation Sunday.
Anantawong faces charges of lese-majeste for sharing a Facebook post detailing alleged graft by the military in the construction of a $20 million park.
Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said “Thailand’s junta has reached a new level of ruthlessness by snatching an activist from his hospital bed, putting him in military detention, and depriving him of needed medical treatment.”
He stressed that the student “needs to be immediately transferred to a hospital.”
Rights groups and activists say that Anantawong's health has deteriorated and needs immediate medical care.
Khaosod had reported that Anantawong had been suffering from an intestinal infection and was scheduled to be operated on for a hernia when he was detained.
The military have so far refused to comment on the story.
It insists that an internal probe into the construction of the Rajbhakdi Park -- - which features gigantic bronze-cast statues of Thai kings and has become a focal point for critics of Thailand's military junta -- found no instances of corruption.
Anantawong, who is in custody to undergo questioning, is reportedly connected to another lese-majeste suspect, who was feared missing after being detained last week but appeared in court Monday morning.
Thanakorn Siriphaibun, a 27-year-old factory worker, will remain in custody for at least 12 more days for further questioning after the Bangkok Military Court approved a police request, according to the Bangkok Post.
Over the weekend, Human Rights Watch had criticized the reported disappearance of Siriphaibun, calling for the immediate disclosure of his whereabouts.
In Tuesday’s statement, Adams said that “it hasn’t been hard to get thrown in jail for criticizing the junta” following the May 2014 coup.
“Now, all you have to do is press ‘Like’ on your Facebook page.”
Thailand has some of the harshest lese-majeste laws in the world, designed to protect the country's highly revered monarch and his family, which the ruling junta views as above politics.
Release on bail is systemically denied for those charged and all lese-majeste trials since the coup have been held on camera in front of military courts, where there is no right to appeal
