Following reports that Vietnamese authorities may have transferred three Thai citizens – Chucheep Chiwasut, Siam Theerawut and Kritsana Tupthai – to Thailand, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Global Operations, Minar Pimple, said:
Amnesty International welcomes the release of prisoner of conscience Pai, Jatuphat Boonpattararaksa, student activist and prominent pro-democracy activist, who was released after a royal amnesty today, roughly two months short of his two and a half years’ imprisonment for sharing a news article on Facebook .
Responding to news of the amnesty and release of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s East and Southeast Asia Director said:
With totalitarian propaganda, censorship, intimidation, physical violence and cyber-harassment, a lot of courage is needed nowadays to work independently as a journalist in the Asia-Pacific countries, where democracies are struggling to resist various forms of disinformation.
Responding to news that the Office of the Attorney-General has made a second postponement on decisions whether to indict three Future Forward Party executives under the Computer Crimes Act for comments made during a June 2018 Facebook Live broadcast, Amnesty International’s Thailand campaigner Katherine Gerson said:
Responding to the decision by Myanmar’s Supreme Court to uphold the conviction and seven year prison sentence of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Nicholas Bequelin Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia said:
Today sees the release of Avengers: Endgame, the 22nd instalment in a 22-film franchise that started more than a decade ago with Iron Man. Based on the comic books created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most successful film franchise of all time and the final film is expected to be the biggest release of this year.
The long-awaited eighth season of Game of Thrones begins on Monday 15 April. The show shocks viewers and generates controversy with graphic violence, especially against women. Yet many aspects of real life around the world today are worse than the mythical Game of Thrones world of Westeros.
Indonesia’s next government must put human rights at the center of its policies after the serious abuses that have marred the country in recent years, Amnesty International said ahead of polling day on 17 April.
17 April 2019 marks five long years since Pholachi “Billy” Rakchongcharoen was seen being taken into custody by Kaengkrachan National Park officials. He was never seen again.
Additional information
Global executions fell by almost one-third last year to the lowest figure in at least a decade, Amnesty International said in its 2018 global review of the death penalty published today. The statistics assess known executions worldwide except in China, where figures thought to be in their thousands remain classified as a state secret.