With support from Australia Asia Worker Links (AAWL), earlier this month the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) passed two motions calling for the immediate release of Somyot Prueksakasemsuk and against Thailand’s Article 112, see below. These were adopted by the international sub-committee of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and were tabled at the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Asia Pacific regional meeting that was held in Bangkok, Thailand earlier this week. The ITUC conference passed a motion in support of the right to freedom of expression for labour and human rights activists. The ITUC meeting was held amid rising tensions in Bangkok with royalist and other right wing forces trying to overthrow the elected Thai government.
1) We express our concern and opposition to the use of repressive laws in Thailand to stifle democratic debate and the right of people and workers to freedom of expression. We, as part of the worldwide labour movement, pledge our support for international working people’s solidarity and for the continuing struggle for democracy in Thailand.
We call for the:
• Immediate release of Somyot Pruksakasemsuk
• Immediate release of all political prisoners in Thailand
• Abolition of Article 112 (The Lese Majeste law)
2) To organise an ITUC Asia Pacific delegation to visit Somyot in jail and to meet with his support group in Bangkok.
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