Junta charge ex-police chief Sereepisuth over TV show

Military officers, led by Lt-Colonel Burin Thongprapai of the Judge Advocate-General’s Office, raided Fahai TV in Nontahburi’s Pak Kret district on Wednesday. 

The action followed the station’s broadcast of the Sereepisuth-hosted “Seree Voice”, a TV show the officers allege contained content in which Sereepisuth threatened national security by creating public disorder. The officers said the station was unlicensed. 

The complaints were filed against eight people, including Fakhum Co, as the legal entity that owns the station.

Pol Lt-General Sigh Sighdech, an investigator for the Crime Suppression Division, said yesterday that seven of the eight had been released on Bt20,000 bail each. Sereepisuth did not report.

The station’s owner Porntip Supannakul refused Sereepisuth’s offer to post bail for her and her staff because she wanted to prove she was not connected to him.

Police will seek an arrest warrant for Sereepisuth, who was yet to meet with a lawyer yesterday. 

Meanwhile, at least eight academics linked to issuing a statement last month in which they declared “universities are not barracks” will be summoned by police, Chiang Mai University humanities professor Attachak Satayanurak told the press.

A professor from Silpakorn University had received a summons, Attachak said, despite having nothing to do with the action.

The development came after the Midnight University website published police summons that it claimed were for Attachak and other academics involved in the action. The website said the summons were issued because the academics had allegedly violated the junta’s ban on political gatherings of more than four people. 

Attachak said the summons must have been the result of the press conference and the statement, which was supported by lecturers from different universities.

Attachak said that the action was done to counter criticism that universities were a breeding ground for forces against the government. 

He said a judge advocate had pressed charges against those involved in it. 

Silpakorn University philosophy lecturer Kongkrit Traiyawong received a summons but had played no part in the press conference and the statement, he said. 

Attachak said he had explained that to police, who told him at least eight academics would be summoned. 

They include himself and Somchai Prichasilpakul, a law professor from Chiang Mai University.

Attachak said he was not worried about being summoned because he had a responsibility to give society academic viewpoints, even if that resulted in him being jailed.

Addressing the issue of freedom under the “Universities are not Barracks” campaign was part of his job as an academic, he said. 

On his Facebook page, Kongkrit wrote: “Attachak is an academic with a high spirit. He is very brave.”