About 200 royalists gathered at Government House on Thursday and filed a complaint with 1.2 million signatures calling for the expulsion of Amnesty International for allegedly acting in defiance of the Thai justice system.
The group submitted their letter through officials to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Labour Ministry and the Interior Ministry, asking them not to renew Amnesty's operating licence, so that it would have to leave the country. The licence expired on Jan 20 this year.
The demonstrators accused Amnesty of acting in defiance of the Thai justice system by sending one million letters worldwide expressing its opposition to the prosecution of activist Panusaya "Rung" Sithijirawattanakul who was ruled to have tried to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
The Constitutional Court on Nov 10 last year ruled that Panusaya and other demonstrators attempted to overthrow the democratic institution with the King as head of state in demands made during a rally at Thammasat University's Rangsit campus on Aug 10, 2020, and on other occasions afterwards.
The ruling carried no penalty but can be used as a basis for other legal action.