Thai dictatorship arrests anti-corruption protesters

This video from Thailand says about itself:

14 February 2015

Dozens of anti-coup activists held a demonstration in central Bangkok Saturday, handing out roses and copies of George Orwell’s “1984“

which is banned in Thailand

— a rare expression of public dissent in a nation still under strict martial law.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Thailand: Young protesters sidelined by junta

Tuesday 8th December 2015

by Our Foreign Desk

THAILAND’S military junta arrested dozens of activists yesterday to stop them holding a protest in a park at the centre of allegations of dodgy dealings.

Soldiers detached the protesters’ railway carriage before taking them into custody while officials announced that Rajabhakti Park, on military land near the seaside town of Hua Hin, was closed for renovations.

Two senior officers have been accused of wrongdoing, including bribery and embezzlement, in the construction of the 1 billion baht (£18 million) park, which features giant statues of seven past Thai kings. A military probe last month exonerated all the accused but a new investigation is due to report in the new year.

The mainly student New Democracy Movement had announced that it would hold a “symbolic activity to inspect corruption” at the park.

The group said the arrests “show that there is corruption in the construction of Rajabhakti Park.

“The more they try to block us from the truth, the more likely that there is corruption in the military junta.”

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said that roughly half of the 36-strong group had been released by early evening after signing a memorandum of understanding, while the remainder — thought to be core members — had not signed any agreement.

Government spokesman Major General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the “small group of students” was misleading the public.

…

The protest violated a law banning public meetings of more than five people for political purposes, Maj Gen Kaewkamnerd said.

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