The Criminal Court on Monday rejected bail request of Apichat, last name withheld due to privacy concern, for the second time. Apichat was arrested during an anti-coup protest and has been charged with defying the military junta’s orders and, later, lese majeste.
The suspect’s mother had prepared 500,000 baht in cash and Government Saving Bank Lottery worth 500,000 baht for the bail request, which was rejected with flight risk.
In the first bail attempt, the court rejected the bail request under the guarantee from Deputy Dean of Thammasat University Parinya Tewanarumitkul, reasoning that their relationship is not as close as relatives.
Apart from being charged with defying the military junta’s orders, the graduate law student from Thammasat University was charged with offences under Article 112, or lese majeste law, and the Computer Crime Act’s Article 14 for defaming the monarchy and spreading lese majeste content on the computer system. The charges came after he was detained for seven days for protesting the coup. The police claimed they had received tips-off about his lese majeste Facebook posts.
Arrested on May 23 when he joined the anti-coup protest in front of Bangkok Art and Cultural Center (BACC), near Siam Square, Apichat, 25, is now detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison.
He is also an officer of the non-profit Law Reform Commission of Thailand, which promotes the amendment of the Article 112.