In trouble for sheltering and observing anti-coup students

In trouble for sheltering and observing anti-coup students

  PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK

THE NATION

 

FACED WITH accusations that he violated the interim constitution, social activist Baramee Chairat stood by his innocence and said he would continue to fight for freedom and democracy. 

Baramee, a key member of the Assembly of the Poor, was with the 14 anti-coup students who were arrested last month. He was in charge of the Suan Ngern Mee Ma premises on Charoen Nakhon Road, where the students were given shelter for two nights before they were arrested. He also accompanied them when they staged a protest against the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

“I have been wrongly accused. I feel restricted [under the junta] and would like to ask how long will all of you put up with this?” Baramee said. “I think every citizen has the right and freedom to express themselves in order to protect his or her rights and liberty.”

Baramee said he did not take part in the protest, but had merely been observing the students from a 10-metre distance at Democracy Monument. He added that offering them shelter at Suan Ngerm Mee Ma was not out of the ordinary as there were rooms available for rent and the students offered to pay. However, he said, the students were not charged after social critic Sulak Sivaraksa, who owns the premises, waived the rent. 

The summonses ordered Baramee to report to police investigators on Friday, but the accused said he was indisposed and has asked his lawyers to request that the meeting be postponed to July 15 instead. 

General Thawatchai Samutsakon, a member of National Reform Council, yesterday claimed that a foreign organisation was involved in the anti-coup student movement. 

He said that the father of one of the detained students, who hails from Khon Kaen province, told him that a group of Khon Kaen University students was persuaded by a foreign organisation to attend an activity for two nights. He said he was worried about his son and wanted him to seek bail and return to his family, Thawatchai said, without revealing any names other than saying all the information had been verified. He was also firm in saying that this organisation had nothing to do with a Communist Party movement in the Northeast. He also called for the public to consider and investigate the truth, adding that he had full confidence that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha would do what he can to work for the country’s benefit.