[We are publishing below a statement from the Committee for Solidarity With the in Paris. We have
Thai People, based taken the text from the September 7 issue of the French Trotskyist daily Rouge. The translation is by Intercontinental Press.
[In an article accompanying the statement, René Tricart reports that on the opening day of the trial, 200 spectators packed the courtroom, while another 2,000 to 3,000 persons demonstrated outside.]
The trial of eighteen students and workers opened on September 5 before a Bangkok military court. They were arrested on October 6, 1976, at the time of the military coup, along with several thousand of their comrades. They are accused of communist activities, treason, murder, attempted murder, and possession of weapons. Six of them have also been for the crime of lese-majesty indicted [affront to a sovereign power]. The eighteen defendants face a possible death sentence.
Only international protest, to which the Bangkok government is sensitive, can save them. A broad campaign to mobilize international public opinion was already undertaken, in mid-June, when the trial was scheduled to open. It forced the government to postpone the opening of the trial, revoke the charges against several prisoners, and allow international observers and the public to attend the trial. However, the eighteen defendants have not won the right to be represented by lawyers.
In France, in particular, a great many organizations and prominent individuals launched an appeal at that time, demanding that the prosecutions be stopped and that democratic freedoms be restored in Thailand.
We must win the release of the eighteen defendants. The Committee for Solidarity With the Thai People calls on all democratic organizations and individuals to lend their support to the eighteen defendants. Nothing else can save them.
The following are the names of the defendants:
Students: Sutham Saengpratum, * general secretary of the National Center for Thai Students; Orissa Lyarawannawat, general secretary of Technical Students for the Thailand United People's Front; Anupong Pongsuwan*; Apinand Bouerhapakdee*; Surachart Pamrungsuk*; Witode Pangwaint*; Prayoon Akaraborworn; Ms. Sucheera Tanchainand; Attakarn Optampakoon; Suchart Patcharasorawut; Somsak Joamjirakum; Mahin Tanbunperm; Tongchai Winijakun; Prapon Wongsiripitak.*
Workers: Arome Pongpa-ngan, office worker; Kogsak Asapak; Ms. Sa-ngeam Jamduang; Saree Siriyupawong.
Committee for Solidarity With the Thai People, c/o M. Luc Thibeaut, 9, rue du Dauphiné, 93 600 Aulnay-sous-Bois,
France.
*These six defendants are also accused of the crime of lese-majesty.