one-year anniversary of the May 2014 coup. All of them were released the next morning but later nine of them were summoned to be charged under Announcement No. 7/2014. Seven of them declared civil disobedience by not reporting or participating in the process under the NCPO orders. But two persons decided to cooperate and fight the case. The case is still ongoing in the military court. Case study 5: Resistant Citizen group45 Anon Nampa, Pansak Srithep, Wannakiat Choosuwan and Sirawith Sereethivat were charged under Announcement No. 7/2014 for participating in a symbolic activity called “My Dear Election” in front of the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre on 14 February 2015. The assembly was considered as a political activity since it talked about an election. The case is still ongoing in the military court. Case study 6: Eight academics46 Eight academics were accused of defying Head of NCPO Order No. 3/2015 after they delivered a statement titled “Universities Are Not Military Camps” at a hotel in Chiang Mai to protest against Gen. Prayuth’s speech accusing university lecturers of teaching students the subject of democracy. Later, six academics reported to the commander of the military unit in Chiang Mai and signed a memorandum of understanding in which they agreed to not participate in any political movement. The charges against those six academics, therefore, were withdrawn. Case study 7: Ratchaburi Referendum Monitoring Center On 19 June 2016, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (red shirt movement) prepared for the opening of the Center for Referendum Watch nationwide to monitor possible fraud in the 7 August 2016 military-run 45 “My Dear Election”. Freedom of Expression Documentation Centre. https://freedom.ilaw.or.th/en/case/658 46 “Academics delivered a statement titled ‘Universities Are Not Military Camps’”. Freedom of Expression Documentation Centre. https://freedom.ilaw.or.th/en/case/700 constitutional referendum. One of the centres was set up in Banpong district of Ratchaburi province. Around 20 persons came to take a picture with a banner of the centre. Even though the activity at Banpong ran smoothly without intervention from the authorities, such as in other provinces, later on someone went to report the case to the police. As a result, 18 individuals were summoned to acknowledge the charges under Head of NCPO Order No. 3/2015. All the persons accused denied the charges, and they were released on the same day without depositing bail bonds. The problems of the enforcement of the Public Assembly Act There were many discussions on a public assembly law for almost 10 years before the Public Assembly Act 2015 was passed by the junta-appointed parliament, the National Legislative Assembly. At the early stage of its enforcement, many groups and movements did not know that it existed, as there was no public participation during the drafting and consideration process. Some of them were prohibited from gathering, some were arrested and charged. After news reports on the charges, the wider public acknowledged the existence of the new law. However, since the act is quite new, there is no legal precedent from the court to interpret the provisions and low-level officers do not understand the law thoroughly. There are some provisions that are still debatable with regard to their interpretation such as the definition of “public spaces” or the “royal county”. In practice, assemblies on political and non-political issues are treated differently. In one instance, even though the organisers informed the local police 24 hours in advance and complied with all conditions under this Act, political activities were still banned claiming the power of Head of NCPO Order No. 3/2015. The non-political activities were allowed to proceed except for an assembly near the parliament or government house, on the grounds that it was the “royal county” area. Case study 1: “Just Standing” activity47 On 27 April 2016, the police arrested 16 individuals, including human rights lawyer Anon Nampa, for participating in a peaceful symbolic 47 “Anon: Just standing (second case)”. Freedom of Expression Documentation Centre. https://freedom.ilaw.or.th/en/ case/759#uploads 134 / Unshackling Expression