BANGKOK (THAILAND) – Fearing another student activist might be charged for insulting Thailand’s king, a number of Thai protesters briefly scuffled with police on Friday.
But police and the lawyer for activist Chaiyapon Danothai said he did not face ‘lese majeste charges’, which can mean a 15-year jail term if found guilty. The lese majeste was used against at least 40 protesters since November.
Protesters pushed and shoved about a dozen officers at a police station near Bangkok, where they believed Chaiyapon was going to be charged. They even brought goats to the police station, which they said symbolised Chaiyapon being made a scapegoat.
“There are no charges or arrest against him,” head of Khlong Luang police station, Sethanat Timwat, told reporters.
Chaiyapon’s lawyer, Noraset Nanongtoom, confirmed that no action had been taken and that his name had appeared on a search warrant used during the arrest late on Wednesday of another activist, who is accused of defacing a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Noraset added that Chaiyapon was not in Bangkok when that incident took place.