An elderly man faces up to seven years in jail after being charged with sedition for giving flowers to anti-junta activists during a protest in March, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Preecha Kaewbanpaew, a 77-year-old former teacher, was arrested in Chiang Rai on Sunday as he tried to cross into Laos for a holiday, said Winyat Chatmontree of Free Thai Legal Aid.
Mr Winyat said his client was taken to Bangkok and charged with violating a National Council for Peace and Order order banning public gatherings as well as Section 116 of the Criminal Code -- the equivalent of sedition.
That charge carries up to seven years in jail and has been controversially wielded by the regime against its more stubborn critics, including a group of 14 students who have held multiple peaceful protests against the military's May 2014 coup.
Mr Winyat said his client was among a crowd who gave flowers to the Resistant Citizen group, which staged a short-lived protest walk on March 15.
"Many people gave them flowers and drinking water," Mr Winyat said.
The tiny march was organised by Pansak Srithep, whose son was killed by a sniper at Soi Rang Nam during the red-shirt protests in Bangkok in 2010. He formed "Resistant Citizen" to resist against injustice and trials of civilians in military courts.
Last March 15, he started to walk from Soi Rang Nam to Thammasat University's Tha Prachan Campus. He and other protesters were detained by the military shortly after beginning their walk.
During the march, several citizens approached him and gave him flowers. He laid some on his path, and gave a bunch of roses to a startled soldier along the route.
Mr Preecha was unaware he was wanted by police until his arrest on Sunday, the lawyer said.