Manhunt launched for activist for publishing negative survey’s results against govt
Police are launching a manhunt for well-known political activist Veera Somkwamkid after he published an opinion survey’s result on his Facebook wall, saying the majority people lack confidence in the Prayut administration.
Police have obtained an arrest warrant from the Criminal Court and searched his house in Bangkok’s Khannnayao district but failed to locate him.
The arrest warrant states that Veera, chairman of People’s Rights and Liberty Protection Group and secretary general of the People’s Network Against Corruption, had violated the Computer Crime Act by posting distorted information into a computer network in defamation against the government.
The Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) alleged that Veera posted results of his opinion survey on his Veera Somkwamkid Facebook wall, causing damage to the reputation of the government and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The TCSD alleged that Veera claimed that the majority of the people lacked confidence in the government although the survey was carried out among just one group of people and was organised by Veera himself. The TCSD said the results might be inaccurate.
The TCSD noted that Veera is a well-known activist so the post on his Facebook wall had severely damaged the reputation of the government and the prime minister.
The Criminal Court granted the arrest warrant on Wednesday.