Thammasat seeks other universities' supports against bill
Thammasat University's lecturers and students on Monday will officially declare their opposition to the government's amnesty bill, said rector Somkid Lertpaitoon.
He added that on November 7, the university's alumni will gather at the statue of university founder Pridi Banomyong and they will file a petition to the president of the Senate.
As chairman of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT), he will also convene a meeting with the presidents of leading universities like Chulalongkorn University, Mahidol University, Srinakarinwirot University and National Institute of Development Administration. Together, they will write a petitition to the Senate.
On Sunday, the lecturers of Thammasat University's Faculty of Law issued a statement against the amnesty bill, dubbed as a "comprehensive" version.
The law is unconstitutional, they said. The legal process is not transparent and rushed, though a law like this demands extensive public comments.
They added that the statement is issued on realisation that the law violates basic human rights and would damage the Thai legal and judicial systems.
"All parliamentarians must realise that despite majority votes, they cannot pass any law. Minority opinions must be taken into account," it said.
Historically, Thailand has passed several amnesty laws. Among them, three are politically-related. The first concerned students and civilians involved with the October 14, 1973 uprising. The second concerned wrongdoers in the October 6, 1976 uprising. The third concerned those convicted under the communism law in 1979.
The law lecturers said that all targeted certain areas of legal violations in a specific period. The government's amnesty bill however encompasses a long period dating back to 2006 and violations against all laws which ranged from corruption to political demonstration.
