RIGHTS advocates hit out at the junta yesterday after its legal officer filed a complaint against Future Forward Party (FWP) leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, accusing him of sedition.

Local rights watchdog iLaw yesterday hinted that the charges pressed by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) or its officers were political in nature.

Thanathorn, whose party won more than 80 seats in the Lower House on its electoral debut, posted a picture of the warrant on his social-media accounts. The document shows he is being accused of violating the sedition law that carries a maximum punishment of seven years in jail.

The warrant requested the politician to report to Pathum Wan Police Station in Bangkok on Saturday.

Thanathorn wrote in the caption: “I will report to them as requested to prove that I have no guns, prison or laws at my disposal. I only have people who love justice by my side.” The post went viral soon after and #SaveThanathorn became the top trending hashtag in Thailand with more than 340,000 tweets.

The accusation reportedly dates back to an incident in 2015, when anti-junta student activists resisted detention by the authority. Thanathorn is accused of providing a vehicle for the students to flee.

A warrant was also issued yesterday for his colleague and FWP secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, summoning him to testify in another case related to the party’s statement on the dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart Party.

Thanathorn said he had anticipated that the authority would try to corner his party and colleagues with allegations and prosecution.

“We have no fear and we will move in a straightforward manner. We might be a threat to anti-democracy military but not to national security,” he told reporters.

“I wonder how the call for the restoration of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law could be regarded as extreme leftist,” Thanathorn said, referring to a provocative statement made by Army chief Apirat Kongsompong on Monday.

In a strong statement, the Army commander denounced foreign-educated individuals for bringing their extreme leftist ideology to topple the constitutional monarchy regime. The message, according to political observers, was a direct attack on the Future Forward Party for its popular movement against the junta.

“I don’t know what message Khun Apirat wants to convey and why he has to make people hate us and waste our time to clear his allegations,” Thanathorn said. “We want to save our time to work for the people.”

Fate of junta critics

Following the development, iLaw wrote on its Facebook page yesterday that this was not the first time someone who had opposed the ruling regime has been hit with a sedition charge.

After the 2014 coup, at least 66 people had been accused of this crime. Among them were prime opponents of the NCPO such as politician Chaturon Chaisang and activists Sombat Boonngamanong and Pansak Srithep.

“According to our records, it cannot be denied that those charged with these cases took a clear stance against the NCPO,” iLaw said.

The organisation also published an article on the use of the sedition law against the regime’s opponents since 2015 to show its relevance to the current development.

According to the article, the legal actions could be aimed at intimidating, burdening, justifying their detention or to try the accused in a military court, whose conduct and judgements have often been questioned by rights advocates.

Senior researcher of Human Rights Watch in Thailand, Sunai Phasuk, yesterday said the criminal cases against the leader of Future Forward Party were the latest examples of the junta’s contempt for the right to freedom of expression and peaceful dissent.

“The arbitrary prosecution of dissidents and critics that has been going on for more than four years shows the junta has no commitment to fulfil its promises to make Thailand a rights-respecting democratic country,” he told The Nation. “What happens in reality is entrenched dictatorship.”