To the freedom that was caged. Please remember and pass on hope to Anchan Preelert
12 July 2021
Amnesty International Thailand
Who is Anchan Preelert?
Anchan Preelert is a daughter who grew up with a single mother among six siblings while she was in the third grade.
Anchan Preelert was one of the people who participated in political rallies before the Red Shirt dissolution.
Anchan Preelert was someone who listened to the political analysis of “Banphot” on the website before social media became widespread.
Anchan Preelert is a retired civil servant during the coup by the NCPO
Anchan Preelert is a citizen who was prosecuted for sharing Banphot's clips with an imprisonment of 43.6 years.
Anchan Preelert was arrested in January 2015 and was initially held in a military camp in Kanchanaburi for five days. In which article 112 is under scrutiny by "martial court" where freedom of expression lies in the uncertainty of law enforcement. The maximum sentence she may receive is 15 years x 29 offenses, Anchan was bound to be imprisoned for 435 years from the 29 clips she has shared. Of all the many offenses under section 112, Anchan's association with the Banphot and the distribution of clips has made her case the most serious section 112 violations since the 2014 coup.
Anchan's case is one of the cases that demonstrate the enforcement standards of Article 112 to prosecute. The owner of the 1000 clips, Banphot was only charged with one criminal offense. Anchan who shared it was charged with 29 offenses that have changed her life. Anchan told iLaw that she never thought that life would come to this point. She planned to live peacefully with her husband after retirement, visit her children in the United States, but instead, she was imprisoned, and her husband had to seek refuge in France. The reason for her imprisonment is out of "Hope" for the Thai political situation and to share the political analysis clips to spark hope for the public.
Amnesty Thailand has now contacted the Bangkok Women's Correctional Institution where Anchan is detained. We were informed that the prison has increased preventive measures for the Covid-19 virus outbreak, so lawyers are not allowed to visit Anchan. Anchan is a convicted prisoner, therefore the reason for her to be in contact with lawyers are less than under trial prisoners. A way to share the candle of hope from the outside to someone through the bars, Anchan Preelert, is to write a letter to let her know that she is not fighting this injustice alone.
Amnesty International Thailand encourages everyone to write a letter of encouragement to Anchan Preelert through https://forms.office.com/r/kejdkzRzF4 We also invite you to take pictures with the Anchan Flower using the hashtag #มองจากลูกกรงนั้นเจ็บปวด #LookingThroughBarsHurts
Or
Send letters to Anchan by downloading postcard Here
Address: To Anchan Preelert
Central Women Correctional Institution, Room 12, Reun Bua Karuna Building 33/2 Ngamwongwan Road , Lat Yao, Chatuchak 10900 Bangkok, Thailand
(ทัณฑสถานหญิงกลาง ห้อง 12 เรือนบัวกรุณา 33/3 ถ.งามวงศ์วาน แขวงลาดยาว เขตจตุจักร กรุงเทพมหานครฯ 10900)
Check out the full article: https://www.amnesty.or.th/latest/blog/887/
Special thank you to information references from:
https://freedom.ilaw.or.th/node/875
https://tlhr2014.com/archives/31849
https://tlhr2014.com/archives/25282
