Amnesty International attacks Thai govt over Joshua Wong's incident
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The Amnesty International Wednesday cricised the Thai junta over its decision to deny Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong entry into Thailand.
Amnesty International said in its press statement that the decision underscored the Thai government’s willingness to suppress the right to freedom of expression and raises serious concerns about how China is using its influence over Thai authorities.
“The detention and deportation of Joshua Wong are yet another indicator that Thailand’s military government will use any available means to stifle political discourse in the country,” the statement quoted Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s Senior Research Adviser for South East Asia and the Pacific, as saying.
Wong was detained upon his arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport late last night. He had travelled to Thailand to speak at a public event commemorating a 1976 violent crackdown on Thai student protesters by police, military, and paramilitary groups.
Wong was put on a plane and returned to Hong Kong.
Amnesty International noted that Thailand has previously forcibly returned Chinese national activists, asylum-seekers and others to China under apparent pressure from Chinese authorities, in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.
“The Thai government should not let geopolitics trump its human rights obligations, and Thailand’s borders should not be used as tools for suppressing conversations about democracy and other matters of national and global concern,” said Patel.
