Supreme Court ruling effectively ends Supinya’s time at NBTC

Sentencing in the case is yet to be handed down. 
Supinya, together with nine other activists, including Magsaysay Award winner Jon Ungpakorn, were found guilty by the Supreme Court for their storming of Parliament 10 years ago in protest against the National Legislative Assembly swiftly passing laws.
Their actions followed the then-junta-backed NLA’s decision to elaborate as many as 11 draft laws on December 12, 2007, just 11 days before a general election was held, paving the way for the democratic system to be reinstalled.
The 10 activists led a mass protest in which demonstrators scaled the perimeter fence and marched into the parliamentary compound, actions that subsequently led the accused to be found guilty of an assembly of more than 10 people, sedition, offences regarding national security and violating the public peace.
Supinya’s recent decision in regard to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is not the first time she has suspended her work in posts that she holds, as the then-lecturer on human rights decided to quit her position at Mahidol University when the case against her proceeded to the courts in 2008.
These actions will leave some marks on Supinya’s CV, and she admitted via her Twitter account, @supinya, that she had been somewhat shaken by last week’s verdict. 
“No preparation for the NBTC meetings for me anymore,” she tweeted on Sunday. “On one side, I feel carefree. But on the other side, I’m heartbroken, but I know that it’s time,”
In a separate interview, Supinya however insisted: “I would still do the same even if I could turn back time. It was a mere weapons-free, symbolic assembly, given that the NLA by then had no mechanism to receive public comments.”
Supinya will technically remain on the NBTC board until tomorrow, when she anticipates that the agency will rule that she is effectively disqualified under the NBTC law’s stipulation that a commissioner must not be sentenced by a final judgment.
The only exceptions from the rule are in cases of an offence committed through negligence, a petty offence or defamation.
Her departure will leave the NBTC governed by three civilians and six military officers, while the subcommittee she has chaired on consumer protection will also have to seek a new head.
During her time at the NBTC, she has been one of only a few commissioners who prominently acted to protect media rights under rulings of the current military-installed government. 
“It is hard to say what society can gain from this case. Overall situations on rights and freedoms have not really been improved,” she said “Some issues have even worsened.” 
More or less, she added, the case should trigger awareness among any government, whether a junta or an elected administration, to make public engagement a top priority. 
“A people’s movement is possible when the public feel there is a lack of a hearing mechanism [from those in authority],” she said. “If it reaches a certain point, it could lead to action that is against the law. That’s why the government should really think about engaging the public as part of the decision-making process.”
Supinya’s media role first came under the public spotlight in 2003, when she – then overseeing the Campaign Committee for Media Reform – and the Thai Post newspaper faced criminal and civil lawsuits filed by Shin Corporation after the daily published her comments that the company had benefited from the Thaksin Shinawatra government’s policies. 
The criminal lawsuit was thrown out three years later, shortly before Shin Corp asked that the civil case, seeking Bt400 million in compensation, be withdrawn. 
The civil case was later dropped.