The Clooney Foundation for Justice recognised the efforts of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) at The Albies, a gala held in New York City.
The TLHR was among six honorees from across the globe, celebrated for their work in direction of defending democracy activists and others who have been the goal of authorized harassment and persecution. The award ceremony was named after Justice Albie Sachs for his monumentally very important role in abolishing apartheid in South Africa.
The award, Justice for Democracy Defenders, was bestowed upon TLHR for defending “thousands of students, activists and journalists who’ve been arrested underneath Thailand‘s legal guidelines criminalising peaceful protest and speech — together with insulting the monarchy.”
The co-founder of the organisation, Sirikan “June” Charoensiri, confronted a multitude of prosecutions herself because of her work defending 14 pro-democracy scholar protesters who were arrested in June 2015. These college students were charged with sedition by the military regime, leading to Charoensiri being charged with the identical offence.
During her acceptance speech, Sirikan posed a rhetorical question to the audience, asking in the event that they knew that discussing the royal household or advocating for democratic reform might lead to imprisonment.
“These implausible eventualities are all too actual for us.”
As per TLHR data as of August 31, 1,925 individuals have been prosecuted for political participation and expression for the reason that Free Youth protests took off in July 2020. Of these, 257 are going through lese-majeste expenses underneath Section 112, and 130 have been charged with sedition under Section 116.
Pay zero , organised by human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and her actor husband George Clooney, drew a crowd of high-profile personalities from numerous fields together with human rights, enterprise, entertainment, style, and technology.
In a joint statement, the Clooneys emphasised the dangers confronted by justice defenders worldwide.
“Courageous justice defenders around the globe face grave dangers that can’t be eliminated in a single day. But what we can do, in addition to our foundation’s day by day work, is shine a highlight on the danger that these individuals are facing, elevating the stakes for their persecutors.”
Notably, actress Meryl Streep was seen at The Albies alongside TLHR co-founder Sirikan Charoensiri and Ann-Pawinee Chumsri, TLHR litigation supervisor, reviews Bangkok Post.
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