January 23, 2008
BANGKOK - Ten activists have been charged with a range of offences after storming into the parliament last month to protest the passage of bills by army-appointed lawmakers, police said Tuesday.
Police Major General Jet Mongkonhattee told AFP the 10 were charged with trespassing, assembling with unlawful aims, unlawful detention and using a loudspeaker without authorization.
Up to 1,500 union advocates, students and political activists surrounded the parliament building on December 12 and blocked the exits, claiming the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) had no mandate to pass legislation.
About 100 of them slipped past security and stormed into the parliament's meeting rooms, prompting lawmakers to suspend deliberations.
Jon Ungphakorn, a former senator and one of the people accused of wrongdoing, said he and his fellow activists denied the charges and would be giving written statements to the police within 15 days.
"Our action was a way to express our political views under the constitution," he told AFP.
Other activists facing charges include prominent media rights campaigner Supinya Klangnarong and Sirichai Mai-Ngarm, a union leader from Thailand's state electricity company.
Activists were angered by their last-minute passage of controversial bills weeks before the December 23 elections.
