ชื่อคดี : คดีสมยศ
โจทก์ : พนักงานอัยการ สำนักงานอัยการพิเศษฝ่ายคดีพิเศษ 4 สำนักงานอัยการสูงสุด
จำเลย : นายสมยศ พฤกษาเกษมสุข (บก.Red Power)
ข้อหา : หมิ่นประมาท ดูหมิ่น หรือแสดงความอาฆาตมาดร้ายพระมหากษัตริย์ พระราชินี รัชทายาท หรือผู้สำเร็จราชการแทนพระองค์
หมายเลขคดี : คดีหมายเลขดำ อ.2962/2554 วันที่ฟ้อง : 22 กรกฎาคม 2554
รายละเอียดคดี:
นายสมยศ เป็นบรรณาธิการ นิตยสาร VOICE OF TUKSIN ซึ่งในเดือนกุมภาพันธ์และมีนาคม 2553 ได้ตีพิมพ์บทความ 2 ชิ้นลงในคอลัมน์ "คมความคิด" ของผู้ใช้นามปากกาว่า "จิตร พลจันทร์" เรื่อง แผนนองเลือด และเรื่อง ยิงข้ามรุ่น โดยเนื้อหาของบทความกล่าวถึงเหตุการณ์ประวัติศาสตร์ทางการเมืองสองครั้งของ ไทย คือ เหตุการณ์เดือนตุลาคม 2516 และ เหตุการณ์ความรุนแรงทางการเมืองหลังวันพิพากษาคดียึดทรัพย์ทักษิณ ชินวัตร
ทั้งสองบทความดังกล่าวเขียนถึงตัวละครหนึ่งที่ชื่อว่า หลวงนฤบาล ซึ่งเจ้าหน้าที่กรมสอบสวนคดีพิเศษอ่านแล้วตีความได้ว่า เป็นการพาดพิงถึงพระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว จึงจับกุมนายสมยศในฐานะที่เป็นบรรณาธิการว่ากระทำผิดตามประมวลกฎหมายอาญา มาตรา 112 หมิ่นประมาทพระมหากษัตริย์
นายสมยศถูกจับกุมวันที่ 30 เมษายน 2553 โดยเจ้าหน้าที่กรมสอบสวนคดีพิเศษ ซึ่งช่วงเวลาดังกล่าวเป็นช่วงเวลาหลังจากที่นายสมยศได้ออกมาเคลื่อนไหวเพื่อ รวบรวมรายชื่อประชาชนหนึ่งหมื่นชื่อให้ยกเลิกประมวลกฎหมายอาญา มาตรา 112
วันนัดพิจารณาคดี :
12 กันยายน 2554 นัดตรวจพยานหลักฐาน
21 พฤศจิกายน 2554 สืบพยานโจทก์(ศาลจังหวัดสระแก้ว)
19 ธันวาคม 2554 สืบพยานโจทก์(ศาลจังหวัดเพชรบูรณ์)
16 มกราคม 2555 สืบพยานโจทก์(ศาลจังหวัดนครสวรรค์)
13 กุมภาพันธ์ 2555 สืบพยานโจทก์(ศาลจังหวัดสงขลา)
18-20 เมษายน 2555 สืบพยานโจทก์
24-26 เมษายน 2555 สืบพยานโจทก์
1-4 พฤษภาคม 2555 สืบพยานจำเลย
...............................................................
Mr. Somyot Preuksakasemsuk
Magazine Editor Charged with Lese Majeste Law and Denied Bail
(Thailand)
Accusation: Article 112, Criminal Code
Witness hearing on the public prosecutor:
21 November 2011 at Saraburi Court
19 December 2011 at Patchaboon Court
16 January 2012 at Nakornsawan Court
13 February 2012 at Songkla Court
18-20, 24-26 April 2012 At Criminal Court, Ratchadaphisek Rd., Bangkok
Witness Hearing on the defendant:
1-4 May 2012
Case Detail:
1. Allegation regarding a person or persons:
On 30 April, Mr. Somyot Preuksakasemsuk, 50, an editor of Voice of Taksin/Red Power magazine and a prominent labour activist, was arrested for allegedly “insulting, defaming or threatening the king, the queen, the heir and the regent”, under the lèse-majesté law or Section 112 in Thai Criminal Code. He has been arbitrarily detained and denied his right to bail since then.
Somyot Pruksakasemsuk is known for his tirelessly active involvement in the work of supporting the empowerment of the workers movement and the establishment of democratic trade unionism in Thailand. He, in 2007, began to edit the "Voice of Taksin" magazine, a political publication opposed to the Abhisit Vejajiva’s government.
Somyot is the chair of Union of Democratic Labour Alliance, the leader of 24th June democracy group and the editor of Red power magazine. He has active role in red shirts movement in the campaign to repeal the lese majeste law.
Somyot was earlier detained in May – June 2010 under the Emergency Decree on the Public Administration in Emergency Situations for 19 days as an editor of the Voice of Taksin magazine. After he was released, he changed the name of the magazine to Red Power.
2. Allegation regarding a medium of communication:
Somyot was arrested on 30 April 2011 and was subsequently charged under lese majeste law after arbitrarily detained without bail for 72 days (on 22 July 2011) for being an editor of Voice of Taksin.
On 22 July 2011, the public prosecutor officially charged Mr. Somyot under two accounts of lese majeste law from two articles that appeared in Voice of Taksin magazine.
He is facing the maximum of 30 years in jail if found guilty.
On February and March 2010, Voice of Taksin published two satire political articles by a writer under the name of Jit Polajan. The two articles talk about two political incidents in Thailand namely on:
1) October 1973 incident, which is a democratic uprising in Thailand when military dictator led by Field Marshal Thanom Kittikajorn, were ousted after he ordered the crackdown on the protesters which resulted in dozens people killed.
2) Political violence before and after the 19 October 2006 coup d'etat.
The writer criticized a fictional character under the name of “Luang Naluebarn”. The public prosecutor argued that the writer refers to HM Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand.
The public prosecutor claimed that as an editor, Somyot needs to be responsible for the article although he did not write it himself.
3. Information regarding the alleged perpetrators:
24 May 2010, after the military crackdown which resulted in the deaths of 92 people, most of them civilians, Mr. Somyot Preuksakasemsuk was arrested under Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations B.E. 2548 (2005) by the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES), a military body set up after the declaration of the decree. CRES held Mr. Somyot Pruksakasemsuk in custody at the Royal Thai Army Cavalry Center, Saraburi (Adisorn Army Camp) and he was released on 13 June 2010.
He was accused that he is editor of Voice of Taksin magazine which CRES claimed that the magazine threatened national security by provoking red shirts against the Abhisit Vejajiva government.
25 April 2011, He held the press conference about the campaign to abolish lese majeste law.
30 April 2011, He was arrested under an arrest warrant on lèse-majesté complaint by the DSI because of the two
articles in Voice of Taksin. But Somyot said that this detention is probably the result of his role in having recently launched a campaign to collect 10,000 signatures to repeal lese majeste law, as he heard investigators saying that if he had not done that, he would not have been arrested. The campaign was done in a peaceful manner according to the citizens' rights under the 2007 Constitution of Thailand.
It is known later that his arrest warrant was issued by the DSI since 12 February 2010. The DSI claimed that they already release two summonses for his case but Mr.Somyot never reported himself to the police. But Mr.Somyot said that he never receives any summon from the DSI before.
He was taken into the custody by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) at the border in Aranyaprathet, in the eastern province of Sa Kaeo, as he was trying to cross into Cambodia. The DSI alleged that Mr.Somyot was attempting to escape but Mr.Somyot said that this is a part of his regular activities to raise fund supporting the 24th June Democracy group, a network of political activists, which he is a leader. When he was arrested, it was already the fourth time for him to cross Thai-Cambodia border to hold similar activities.
Bangkok Post quoted a police officer as saying the court granted a request from the DSI to hold him for ten days so that he could not “tamper with the evidence against him.”
2 May 2011, the Criminal Court denied his bail request, citing that his alleged offences affected national security and the revered monarchy, which carried severe punishment, and that he might flee, as he had been arrested while trying to go abroad.
22 July 2011, the public prosecutor pressed two charges under lese majeste against Somyot for the two articles which appeared in Voice of Taksin. Somyot asked for the right to bail to the court once again for the fourth times, but was denied. The court gave the same reason in denying his bail saying that the charge is severe and it effects the feelings of the public as it deals with the monarchy and alleged that Somyot might escape if he is granted bail.
4. Information related to State actions
Somyot was arrested at Thai-Cambodia border by immigration police but the case has been taken under responsibility of The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) regarding lèse-majesté law which states that “Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir apparent or the Regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three years to fifteen years.”.
On 10 May 2011, Dr Niran Pithakwatchara, the chair of sub-committee of civil and political rights of National Human Rights Commission visited Somyot in the Central Bangkok Remand Prison. Niran gave the interview that he visited Somyot for fact finding in terms of unfair lèse-majesté enforcement after he got complaints from academic and political campaign groups. He also said that the sub-committee agreed bailing out is the basic rights of detainee but the sub-committee need to find the fact about investigation process of the DSI.
After his detention for 72 days, on 22 July 2011, the public prosecutor decided to press charge on Mr. Somyot on lese majeste law for two accounts based upon the two articles in Voice of Taksin as an editor of the magazine.
