KHON KAEN - The provincial court on Thursday began a closed-door trial of an activist law student arrested for sharing a BBC article about the king on Facebook.
Jatupat "Pai Dao Din'' Boonpattararaksa was arrested in December for sharing a profile of the king that was posted on Facebook by the BBC's Thai-language service.
Mr Jatupat is a prominent member of Dao Din, a small student organisation that has protested against the military government. He was presented the Gwangju Prize, a human rights award from The May 18 Memorial Foundation in South Korea, in May while he was in detention.
Mr Jatupat's parents greeted him briefly on Thursday as he emerged from a prison van in brown inmate's clothing before he was taken to the detention area at Khon Kaen Provincial Court.
His father, Viboon Boonpattararaksa, said Mr Jatupat has been denied bail 12 times. He said he hopes the hearing will present evidence to show the court that his son didn't commit a serious crime and should be granted his freedom while proving his innocence.
With a sign hung in front of the courtroom reading "Secret Trial'' in Thai, the first witness, an army officer who filed charges against Mr Jatupat, entered while guards asked journalists who arrived earlier to leave.
Mr Jatupat said during a lunch break that he was still hopeful despite being repeatedly denied bail. He said he was not angry at anyone, not even the army officer who brought charges against him. He said the problem was that free speech was being denied.
"I understand that he was just doing his job. It's the system that I am fighting against. I want to remain calm and kind in this environment. I was smiling at him in the court room. Yes, he was the one who caused me to be in here today but the problem isn't with him.''
Mr Jatupat was put under close watch by authorities after November 2014, when he and several other Dao Din members held up a three-fingered salute, a resistance gesture borrowed from The Hunger Games movies, during a speech by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. He was also among about a dozen students arrested in June 2015 for participating in anti-government protests.