A regular visitor of military courts, Rangsiman Rome, claims the easing has come about because there was no one left for the junta to arrest.

“It’s not surprising they’ve curbed the use of the military court now. I guess most of the prime antagonists of the NCPO [National Council for Peace and Order] have already had a case or two hanging in the military court for disobedience after these two years [of junta rule],” Rangsiman said.

The prominent anti-junta activist has defended himself and shared his opinions before the military court on several occasions.

The NCPO, after staging its coup in May 2014, issued hundreds of announcements and orders against those seen as opponents. In the early days after the power seizure, it ordered that crimes of sedition, lese majeste, and disobedience towards the regime be tried in a military court. The number of people charged with those offences – especially under Article 112 – were unusually and strikingly high. Almost 300 civilians have faced military trial in political cases, according to data collected by the Internet Law Reform Dialogue or iLaw.

Rights advocates, including international organisations, iLaw, and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), have constantly expressed concern about use of the military court. They said not only have the judges lacked legal education credentials, they were inexperienced for all but a small number of cases tried in the military court prior to the NCPO’s time.

The groups said their concerns had received hardly any attention from the official powers-that-be.

The Nation asked Rangsiman, who is known for his defiance of the ruling NCPO, what impression he had about the fairness or justice imposed by the court?

“I don’t think there should be any doubt regarding justice or fairness by the military court,” he said. “It is very military, affiliated with the Defence Ministry. And they are authorised to investigate cases involving the military or the NCPO. So, how should we expect it to be just or impartial?” Rangsiman has a background as a law student from Thammasat University and has been tried several times for sedition and disobedience of the NCPO orders.

Many activists in his clique “New Democracy Movement” and other pro-democracy factions have been sharing a similar fate since the NCPO took power two years ago.

“So, we should be done with asking for justice from the military court. I think it is pretty obvious civilians going on military trial are mostly the enemy of the NCPO. And they just use their power in the court against us,” Rangsiman said.

As an antagonist towards military rule, Rangsiman acknowledged some people might argue he was prejudiced.

But he stood his ground saying, “The fact that the junta used the military court against its enemy is no distortion.

“Other activists and I have been put in jail very late at night. It was beyond inappropriate and it was clear the court had an agenda against us, otherwise they would not have operated at such odd hours – like midnight.”

He said there was no way a regular court of justice would open late at night just to order imprisonment for such minor offences.

“This is not to mention how we do not exhibit any [intention] to flee or avoid the legal process. But still the court did not permit bail requests and put us in jail,” the activist said.

“I think it was beyond obvious they were trying to teach us a lesson or scare us away so we would stop acting against the junta.”

Now that the NCPO has curbed military trials on civilians, Rangsiman said he felt indifferent to it, reiterating most anti-junta activists already had cases before the court and would not benefit from the change.

Asked whether he would plead with the NCPO to consider transferring political cases to the normal courts of justice, he said: “First, I have to say again that I do not accept the NCPO’s rule. So, I’m not going to do anything about it.

“Second, the NCPO knows that cases against its opponents are already before the court. So, the [court change] would not do us any good while it helps brush up their image in the eyes of outsiders,” he said.