After being held in Bangkok Remand Prison for more than 200 days, on lèse majesté and other protest-related charges, anti-establishment Ratsadon group leader Anon Nampa was granted three months of conditional bail today (Monday) by Bangkok South Criminal Court.
In his Twitter post, Norasate Nanongtoom, a lawyer at the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, quoted the Bangkok South Criminal Court as saying that Anon voluntarily offered his own terms for the granting of bail, which included refraining from doing anything which may offend the monarchy or participating in activities which may cause unrest in the country.
Although Anon has been released on bail before, which was subsequently withdrawn, the court felt that the defendant deserved another chance to comply with the bail conditions he proposed.
Anon, who set a precedent in August 2020 for being the first to call for monarchy reform in public, has been in and out of remand prison seven times over the past year.
Norasate said that the court imposed a set of conditions on Anon and required a 200,000 baht bail bond for his release until May 28th.
Under the conditions, Anon is required:
- To refrain from undertaking any activities which may offend the monarchy or the court.
- To refrain from undertaking any activities which may disrupt court proceedings.
- To refrain from posting any message in a way which provokes, incites or persuades people to join a protest.
- To refrain from participating in protests or online fora which may cause unrest in the country.
- Not to leave his residence between 7pm and 6am, except when it is necessary to see a doctor at a hospital or with the prior permission of the court and not to leave the country without the court’s permission.
- To report to the court every 30 days during his release.
- To wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet.
Norasate said that, after the completion of the three-month bail, Anon has the right to re-apply adding, however, that the court can revoke the bail at any time if the defendant does not comply with any of the conditions.
Last Thursday, another Ratsadon protest leader, Parit Chiwarak, aka “Penguin”, was also granted a three-month conditional bail, after having being held for over 200 days on lèse majesté and other protest-related charges.
