Future Forward Party spokesperson Pannika Wanich speaks to the press at the Thai political partys headquarters in Bangkok on February 21, 2020. – Thailand’s Constitutional Court is set to rule on Future Forward Party’s dissolution over a loan from its billionaire leader. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)
Former Future Forward MP, and a key member of the Progressive Movement, Pannika Wanich, was indicted today (Friday) in the Criminal Court by public prosecutors for violating the Computer Crime Act, for her Facebook posts made almost a decade ago which prosecutors claim may cause public concern or panic and jeopardise national security.
The court later granted her temporary release after a bond of 30,000 baht was posted. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for April 25th in the same court.
Pannika later told the media that she was surprised that the public prosecutors decided to prosecute her, as one of the posts was lifted from an old song predicting the fate of the Ayutthaya kingdom, which was also referred to in a textbook.
The other post was critical of the Democrat party, she said, adding that she was curious as to how the two posts could be interpreted as causing public concern or jeopardise national security.
The young politician said that her prosecution was just one of over 100 other court cases still pending against not just opposition politicians, but also members of the public, young people in particular.
The multiple court cases, she said, indicates clearly that certain laws are being abused for political purposes.
She claimed that, in the past two years, more than 170 people have been charged for acts of lèse majesté and others have been indicted with violations of the Computer Crime Act and public incitement.