Academics call for ‘freedom eroding’ charges to be dropped 

The accused had attended the 13th International Conference on Thai Studies in Chiang Mai in July.
The event attracted thousands of Thai and foreign academics and was monitored by plainclothes security officers.
The accused held a banner that read “This is not a military camp but an academic forum” during a seminar at Chiang Mai University (CMU).
This resulted in the five academics and students receiving summons for allegedly gathering for a political purpose which, in the case of more than four people, is against a junta order in effect since the 2014 coup.
The accused are Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, director of CMU’s Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development, writer Pakawadee Weerapaspong, academic Chaiyapon Samniang and student activists Nontawat Machai and Teerapon Buangam.
They are due to report to Chiang Mai police on Monday, with CMU lecturers and students, tribal people and local farmers expected to be on hand for moral support.
On Sunday, 301 academics denied the legitimacy of the charges, reasoning that the banner was merely pointed out the inappropriateness of security personnel infiltrating academic seminars.
In the statement they said the charges suppressed freedom of expression, which impacted on the atmosphere of profound knowledge exchanges in society.
To repair the damage, they said the junta order banning political gatherings should be revoked.
The signatories of the statement included Thammasat University’s noted historian Charnvit Kasetsiri, Kasetsart University economics lecturer Decharut Sukkumnoed, Mahidol Univeristy political science lecturer Thaweethong Hongwiwat and the director of Chulaongkorn University’s Center for Peace and Conflict studies Surichai Wankaew.