(SEAPA/IFEX) – Thailand’s coup leader, Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, has asked the government he installed to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok “to maintain law and order” and stop anti-coup protests that have been gaining momentum over the past weeks. The weekly rallies, led by supporters of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and other coup […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – Thailand’s coup leader, Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, has asked the government he installed to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok “to maintain law and order” and stop anti-coup protests that have been gaining momentum over the past weeks.
The weekly rallies, led by supporters of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and other coup detractors, attracted small crowds at first but saw some 2,000 people on 23 March 2007. Another rally has been called for 30 March.
The coup-makers had claimed restoration of democracy as one of the justifications for the 19 September 2006 putsch against Thaksin, who was accused of corruption and abuse of power.
Following the bloodless coup, the junta closed down 300 community radio stations in the northern provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, where Thaksin had grassroots support, out of some 3,000 stations in the whole country. It banned broadcast of any coverage on Thaksin, and on several occasions blocked such footage from international news broadcasters CNN and BBC.
On 13 March, the Information and Communication Ministry blocked the latest pro-Thaksin website to have sprung up, http://www.hi-thaksin.net . The government also censored the news broadcast of a new satellite station, PTV (People’s Television), established in February, in Hong Kong, by politicians from Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai party.
Under the interim Constitution established by the junta after it tore up the 1997 Constitution upon the coup, the prime minister has the power to declare emergency rule with the approval of the cabinet. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont is reportedly still deliberating with Sonthi on the matter.
Emergency rule would give authorities many of the same powers they had under martial law, which the junta imposed immediately after the coup and partly lifted on 27 January 2007, freeing 41 provinces out of 76, including the capital city.
The provisions of emergency rule authorise detention without charge for 30 days, seizure and destruction of anything deemed a threat to national security or to impede the work of the authorities, harsh censorship, curfews, banning of public gatherings, while protecting security forces from prosecution.
