THAILAND: Supreme Court affirms illegality of defending human rights
ประเทศไทย: ศาลยืนยันการมิชอบด้วยกฎหายของการแก้ตัวเรื่องสิทธิมนุษยชน

THAILAND: Supreme Court affirms illegality of defending human rights – AHCR, October 13, 2011
…The notion that the plaintiffs in the current case might have had cause to fear the “influence” of the defendant is not only profoundly wrong but it is also profoundly disturbing. In Thailand, the reference to a person of “influence” carries a particular connotation attached to persons with linkages to others in power. It refers to a confluence of private and state influences, which have access to and are not afraid to use extrajudicial means to secure their interests. For the Court of Appeal to use this language with reference to Jintana, and for the Supreme Court to not challenge it, is not only incorrect but also extremely cynical, and an indicator of the extent to which human rights defenders in Thailand are again increasingly cast as troublemakers and evildoers who are against the interests of the state…