Student group slams police for targeting teens, vows another protest today
The “Bad Student” group has accused police of harassment after two of its members under 18 years old received police summons for violating the state of emergency.
In a Facebook post on Friday, the pro-democracy group consisting of high-school students and student organisations from 50 educational institutions nationwide said that two of its members, Benjamaporn and Lopnapat (last names withheld), who are high school students of Mattayom 4 and 6 respectively, recently received police summons asking them to report to be notified of charges for violating the state of emergency, for their participation in pro-democracy rallies in October.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha declared a state of emergency in Bangkok on October 14 to control the escalating pro-democracy protests by demonstrators who call themselves the Ratsadon in front of Government House. The emergency ended on October 22.
“This is a harassment of adolescents who are under 18 years old,” the FB post said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Bad Student group declared that they would hold an anti-government protest with the theme “Meteor Strikes Dinosaurs”, at Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong intersection on Saturday.
They said the aim of the rally was to remind lawmakers that if they don’t change their dinosaur-like outdated mindsets, they would be hit by meteors.