Anti-coup group plans to launch civil disobedience
ANTI-COUP group Dao Din has vowed to resort to civil disobedience and start a "neo-democracy movement'' to demand the revocation of Article 44 of the interim charter.
The group, consisting of more than 20 groups of students and villagers from around the country, read a statement in Khon Kaen’s Muang district yesterday in which it made its demands.
The group also wants the charter drafting process to end, all declarations and orders by the junta to be scrapped and martial law revoked.
It called on the government to stop intimidating people by taking legal action against them and allow a general election to be held as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, seven student members of Dao Din are due in court yesterday for violating Article 44 by allegedly staging an anti-coup gathering at the Democracy Monument in Khon Kaen on May 22, the first anniversary of the coup. They were arrested and sent to the Sripatcharin military camp for questioning before being released on bail.
The students were summoned to report to Khon Kaen Police Station but the student leaders said they would resort to civil disobedience, claiming the police order was unlawful.
Uniformed and plainclothes police yesterday gathered outside Khon Kaen University after receiving a tip-off that students and environmentalists would stage a protest to demand the revocation of Article 44.
More than 100 police were also stationed outside Muang district after being told that villagers would turn up at the police station to support the Dao Din students.
Villagers unable to protest
Nattaporn Arthan, a representative of environmental group Namun Dunsad, said the villagers wanted to stage a protest to protect lands and the environment but they could not because Article 44 deprived them of their rights.
The environmentalists wore T-shirts embossed with the words “we do not want gas wells”, which police made them remove before handing them back when asked to do so by villagers.
Villagers from Loei’s Wang Sapung district attempted to show their support for the Dao Din students but were blocked from entering Khon Kaen city.
Their buses were seized but they were later released and headed for Khon Kaen Police Station.
Pol Colonel Wiset Pakdiwut said that if the seven Dao Din students did not report to police, they would be violating the conditions of their bail. He said he would summon them since the charges against them were not serious.
