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Theatre activists jailed for insulting monarchy in Thailand https://www.ifex.org/thailand/2014/08/20/theatre_activists/ Human Rights Watch The arrest of two activists involved in a play considered by Thai military authorities to be "insulting to the monarchy" shows the decline in freedom of expression in Thailand since the May 22, 2014 coup, Human Rights Watch said on August 20. At least 14 new lese majeste cases are pending in the Bangkok Military Court and in criminal courts around Thailand, according to the Internet Dialogue on Law Reform (ILaw). Patiwat Saraiyaem, 23, and Pornthip Munkong, 25, were arrested on August 14 and 15 respectively for their participation in "The Wolf Bride," a play presented in October 2013 as part of the 40th commemoration at Thammasat University of the October 1973 pro-democracy protest. "Thailand's military junta first put a chokehold on TV, radio, newspapers and the internet, and now they're going after the theater arts," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Since the military coup, the authorities have clamped down on any speech they find objectionable, including what they deem is critical of the monarchy."...