Academics and writers explain why martial law should end

The statement said the May 22 coup by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) had gravely deprived the rights and liberty of the people especially when anti-coup activists were apprehended for exercising freedom of expression.  More than 600 people whom the NCPO believed belong to the rival political group were summoned to report themselves and a group of 200 academics, journalists and social activists were rounded up. About 33 seminars and activities have either been cancelled or the content of seminars meddled with, it said.

People have been living under an atmosphere of fear of injustice over the past half-year, the statement said. They had not been able to exercise freedom of expression under such circumstances.

Martial law has been used to harass the poor, forcing them off state land, while refusing to take legal action against capitalists for some land grabs – such as dispelling villagers of Non Daeng village in Buri Ram province, Kon San village in Chaiyaphum, and Klong Saipattana in Surat Thani – it claimed. Protesters calling for energy reform had been rounded up, including villagers and academics campaigning for the removal of master plans on forests, it said. 

Some of the people who gave signatures to support the statement include Prapas Pintobtaeng and Pitch Pongsawat of Chulalongkorn University’s political science faculty, writer Sananchit Bangsapan, and Suchart Sawatsri, editor of literary magazine Chor Karaked.