A forum on human rights in post-coup Thailand scheduled for Thursday evening at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand was shut down by the junta before it even began.
The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights planned to use the FCCT to hold a meeting in conjunction with its release of a report assessing the human-rights situation over the year since the 2014 coup.
But the FCCT posted on its website that the event, which was sponsored by the TLHR, had been cancelled. It is the second time a rights forum planned by the group has been blocked.
The FCCT said the panel discussion was not sponsored by the club. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights had paid to use the venue.
Poonsuk Poonsukcharoen, the documentation team manager for the organisers, said the TLHR was informed by the club that Lumphini police had sent a letter to the club seeking ''cooperation'' to cancel the event and drop plans to release the report, she said.
The letter from police said the FCCT should cancel the discussion because "there might be some people with ill-intentions using the opportunity to create some situations that might cause chaos", AFP reported.
Ms Poonsuk said the panel to discuss the report will be scrapped, but lawyers will still show up, even with the expectation of a heavy police presence.
''The organisers will go there to release the report, but the panel has been cancelled,'' she said.
FCCT president Jonathan Head tweeted that the order was directed by the National Council for Peace and Order. "The NCPO, via the police, has given us a direct order to cancel tonight's event. We have to comply," he tweeted.
Voice of America correspondent and FCCT member Steve Herman tweeted that police cited Section 116 of the internal-security section of the Criminal Code as reason for the shutdown. "Sec 116 deals with use of force or unrest likely to cause disturbance in the country," he said.
NCPO spokesman Werachon Sukhondapatipak confirmed to AFP the military halted the event, saying Thai Lawyers for Human Rights had not sought permission from the authorities.
The TLHR later issued a statement calling the decision to block the forum suppression of the freedom of expression.
"The interference simply reinforces the gross human rights violations [occurring] in Thailand under the whim of the National Council for Peace and Order, whereby government officials hold sweeping power to deny people the right to freedom of expression,” it said.
Its report released on Thursday strongly criticised the NCPO and military regime for their failure to be a "neutral party” since it took over administrative power.
“Criticism has been stifled, including complaints about difficult day-to-day living conditions, and efforts to suppress any movement by the people to participate in issues that affect their lives have been increased," the report said.
The document is a followup to a report published about the rights situation 100 days after the May 22, 2014 coup. It criticised the imposition of martial law, claiming it led to abuse of power by the military regime.
The 14-page report was submitted to the Dhamrongdhama Centre of the Interior Ministry on Sept 8 urging the government to end the problem.
Its previous forum planned for Sept 2 at FCCT to unveil last year's report was also cancelled by the army.
The TLHR was set up to offer legal aid to victims of the coup.