Somyos Plueksakasemsuk led away by the Thai police at the border checkpoint with Cambodia.SA KAEO, April 30 - A Red Shirt activist, Somyos Plueksakasemsuk, was detained on lese majeste charge at Aranyaprathet border crossing in Sa Kaeo, bordering Cambodia, on Saturday afternoon.
DSI director-general Tharit Pengdit said Mr Somyos was taken into custody when he was about to leave the country at the immigration checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province. His name is in the immigration’s blacklist.
Mr Somyos was taken to the DSI office in Bangkok for further questioning on Saturday evening and his case is expected to be forwarded to court on Monday.
The Red Shirt leader said he often traveled to Cambodia, as he runs a travel agency to Cambodia. He did not know an arrest warrant was issued for him, otherwise he would surrendered to fight the charges. He insisted he never thought about fleeing.
Active Red Shirt member Somyos is a core leader of a Red Shirt affiliate group called June 24 Democracy, and editor-in-chief of a biweekly magazine titled 'Voice of Thaksin'. (MCOT online news)
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By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 4/30/2011
Prominent Thai Red Shirt arrested over 'royal insult'
A prominent Thai anti-government activist was arrested Saturday on allegations of insulting the revered monarchy, authorities said, just days after 18 other "Red Shirts" faced similar claims.
Somyot Prueaksakasemsuk, the head of a Red Shirt affiliate group who runs a tour company in addition to his political activities, was arrested at Sa Koew checkpoint as he was about to cross to neighbouring Cambodia.
"We checked his passport and found on our computer that he was wanted for lese majeste," said immigration police at the checkpoint.
Lese majeste -- insulting the monarchy -- is a serious offence in Thailand punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
Somyot was not aware of the arrest warrant, which was issued on April 12, he told AFP while being escorted by police to Bangkok.
He said the arrest could be linked to his involvement with two fortnightly magazines, including one that supports fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"I guess that it related to my work as editor of Voice of Thaksin and Red Power," he said, adding that he had been trying to cross the border to take a group of 30 tourists to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
Thailand, which is preparing for elections expected to be called next week, remains deeply divided following its worst civil violence in decades in April and May 2010, which left more than 90 people dead, most of them civilians.
The Reds view Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government as an unelected elite because it came to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote with military backing, after a court ruling threw out the previous administration.
Somyot's arrest comes a little over a week after Thai authorities summoned 18 leaders of the Red Shirt movement to face charges of sedition and lese majeste.
The accused include acting chairwoman Thida Thavornseth as well as Red Shirt lawmaker Jatuporn Prompan and other key figures.
Those charges stem from speeches made at a Red Shirt rally held on April 10 that drew tens of thousands of people, to mark the first anniversary of deadly clashes between the movement's supporters and armed troops in central Bangkok.
The leaders were set to report to the authorities to answer the allegations in early May, but the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has since said the meeting is postponed indefinitely while it gathers more evidence.
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'Red Power' editor Somyos arrested
By Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation on Sunday
Published on May 1, 2011
Red Power magazine editor Somyos Prueksakasemsuk was arrested yesterday afternoon for alleged lese majeste, after trying to leave the Kingdom on a fund-raising tour to Cambodia.
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The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) arrested Somyos after being notified by border officers at Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaew province that Somyos was leading some 30 or so red shirts on a fund-raising tour for the magazine to Angkor Wat.
Somyos was charged last week with alleged lese majeste over an article in the February and March issue of the now-banned Voice of Thaksin magazine, which he published in February. He denied the charge and insisted yesterday that he was innocent.
"We're fighting for the right to be human," he said on the phone shortly after 5pm yesterday, while inside a DSI vehicle on the way from Sa Kaew back to Bangkok.
It was unclear at press time if Somyos would be granted bail or not, but a DSI officer told a local media outlet they were determined to detain him until Monday, when a court would decide whether he should be given bail or not.
Speaking on his mobile phone, Somyos said he was surprised by the incident. He said the timing of his arrest, coupled with other developments, such as the crackdown on many red-shirt community radio stations, a new wave of internet censorship, plus "harassment" of a red-shirt historian and lese majeste charges against 18 red-shirt leaders had all taken place at a "suspicious" time - just before the election.
"I think they're all related to the current [political] situation," said Somyos, who was detained for a month without charge last year under the emergency decree.
DSI director-general Tharit Pengdit said Mr Somyos was taken into custody when he was about to leave the country at the immigration checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province. His name is in the immigration’s blacklist.
Mr Somyos was taken to the DSI office in Bangkok for further questioning on Saturday evening and his case is expected to be forwarded to court on Monday.
The Red Shirt leader said he often traveled to Cambodia, as he runs a travel agency to Cambodia. He did not know an arrest warrant was issued for him, otherwise he would surrendered to fight the charges. He insisted he never thought about fleeing.
Active Red Shirt member Somyos is a core leader of a Red Shirt affiliate group called June 24 Democracy, and editor-in-chief of a biweekly magazine titled 'Voice of Thaksin'. (MCOT online news)
-------------------------------
By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 4/30/2011
Prominent Thai Red Shirt arrested over 'royal insult'
A prominent Thai anti-government activist was arrested Saturday on allegations of insulting the revered monarchy, authorities said, just days after 18 other "Red Shirts" faced similar claims.
Somyot Prueaksakasemsuk, the head of a Red Shirt affiliate group who runs a tour company in addition to his political activities, was arrested at Sa Koew checkpoint as he was about to cross to neighbouring Cambodia.
"We checked his passport and found on our computer that he was wanted for lese majeste," said immigration police at the checkpoint.
Lese majeste -- insulting the monarchy -- is a serious offence in Thailand punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
Somyot was not aware of the arrest warrant, which was issued on April 12, he told AFP while being escorted by police to Bangkok.
He said the arrest could be linked to his involvement with two fortnightly magazines, including one that supports fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"I guess that it related to my work as editor of Voice of Thaksin and Red Power," he said, adding that he had been trying to cross the border to take a group of 30 tourists to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
Thailand, which is preparing for elections expected to be called next week, remains deeply divided following its worst civil violence in decades in April and May 2010, which left more than 90 people dead, most of them civilians.
The Reds view Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government as an unelected elite because it came to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote with military backing, after a court ruling threw out the previous administration.
Somyot's arrest comes a little over a week after Thai authorities summoned 18 leaders of the Red Shirt movement to face charges of sedition and lese majeste.
The accused include acting chairwoman Thida Thavornseth as well as Red Shirt lawmaker Jatuporn Prompan and other key figures.
Those charges stem from speeches made at a Red Shirt rally held on April 10 that drew tens of thousands of people, to mark the first anniversary of deadly clashes between the movement's supporters and armed troops in central Bangkok.
The leaders were set to report to the authorities to answer the allegations in early May, but the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has since said the meeting is postponed indefinitely while it gathers more evidence.
---------------------------------
'Red Power' editor Somyos arrested
By Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation on Sunday
Published on May 1, 2011
Red Power magazine editor Somyos Prueksakasemsuk was arrested yesterday afternoon for alleged lese majeste, after trying to leave the Kingdom on a fund-raising tour to Cambodia.
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The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) arrested Somyos after being notified by border officers at Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaew province that Somyos was leading some 30 or so red shirts on a fund-raising tour for the magazine to Angkor Wat.
Somyos was charged last week with alleged lese majeste over an article in the February and March issue of the now-banned Voice of Thaksin magazine, which he published in February. He denied the charge and insisted yesterday that he was innocent.
"We're fighting for the right to be human," he said on the phone shortly after 5pm yesterday, while inside a DSI vehicle on the way from Sa Kaew back to Bangkok.
It was unclear at press time if Somyos would be granted bail or not, but a DSI officer told a local media outlet they were determined to detain him until Monday, when a court would decide whether he should be given bail or not.
Speaking on his mobile phone, Somyos said he was surprised by the incident. He said the timing of his arrest, coupled with other developments, such as the crackdown on many red-shirt community radio stations, a new wave of internet censorship, plus "harassment" of a red-shirt historian and lese majeste charges against 18 red-shirt leaders had all taken place at a "suspicious" time - just before the election.
"I think they're all related to the current [political] situation," said Somyos, who was detained for a month without charge last year under the emergency decree.
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