[Thai prisoner] Veera held in solitary, senator says

• Published: 29 Jan 2013
• Bangkok Post

Writer: Wassana Nanuam

A senator has urged the Foreign Ministry to help Veera Somkwamkid, saying the activist is being held in solitary confinement in a Cambodia prison.

Veera: No chance to read, write

Appointed senator Jet Siratranont visited Veera in prison last Friday during a trip to Phnom Penh for a conference.

Mr Jet said Veera, who has been jailed for over two years, is being held in isolation with no opportunity to read or write. The ministry must look into this issue, the senator said, as these conditions do not comply with international human rights principles.

Veera, a leader of the Thailand Patriot Network, and his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaiboon were apprehended by Cambodian officials for illegal entry and espionage in December 2010.

He was sentenced to eight years in jail but his term has recently been reduced by six months.

Ratree has been sentenced to six years imprisonment, but she will be released next Friday after she was granted a royal pardon this month.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Manasvi Srisodapol yesterday said Ratree will be released from the Prey Sar prison at 9am. Ministry officials will bring her to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

Her family is yet to decide whether to fly back to Bangkok the same day, Mr Manasvi said.

Meanwhile, an army source said a military exercise will be conducted from this month until March in the border provinces of Surin and Si Sa Ket, under the supervision of the 2nd Army Region.

"The exercise will not be carried out near the border," the source said.

"This will prevent it from being seen as a provocation that adds to border tensions."

The source said Cambodian troops had also staged a drill in their territory.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will attend the cremation of former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk in Phnom Penh on Monday.

Somdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk, who was also twice Cambodian prime minister, died in October 2012 at the age of 89 in Beijing, China.

His son, King Norodom Sihamoni, is the current sovereign of Cambodia.