<p>The Department of Special Investigation has been investigating 258 cases involving protest rallies of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship and 29 cases of offences against the monarchy.</p>

<p>Korean trade unionists have taken turns in staging a &lsquo;one-person picket&rsquo; in front of the Thai Embassy in Seoul to urge the Thai government to release Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, arrested for l&egrave;se majest&eacute; and detained without bail since late April.</p>

<p>On 4 July, the Criminal Court sentenced Sathian (family name withheld) to 6 years in jail for lèse majesté and fined him 100,000 baht for illegally selling video CDs, and, as he pleaded guilty, the penalties were reduced by half.</p> <p></p>

<p>Workers and activists in Indonesia and Bangladesh have held protests at Thai Embassies, demanding the release of Somyos Prueksakasemsuk.&nbsp; More protests will be held in Hong Kong and Australia this week.</p>

<p>Groups of academics and readers have launched online petitions to amend Article 112 of the Criminal Code.</p>

<p>Amid increasing criticism, the country needs a rational approach instead of a policy that is causing conflict</p> <p>The debate on the merit of the controversial lese majeste law reached a new height earlier this week when Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha defended the law in his surprising nationwide address through Army-controlled Channels 5 and 7.</p>

<p>As of 15 June, 336 writers have signed the petition to amend the l&egrave;se majest&eacute; law and to stop using the law to suppress the expression of political views.</p>

<p>On 13 June, the lawyer and family of Joe Gordon or Lerpong Wichaikhammat petitioned the Criminal Court for bail, citing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and his urgent need of medical treatment for high blood pressure and gout.&nbsp; </p>

<p>After the now notorious arrest in Thailand of US citizen and blogger Joe Gordon on lese majeste charges, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and her Embassy staff have been on the receiving end of some rather pointed comments from the Thai social media community.</p>

<p>On 9 June, about 20 students from Thammasat University visited political prisoners at Bangkok Remand Prison to give them moral support.</p>

<p>The multitude of criminal defamation and lese majest&eacute; cases that has arisen in Thailand over the last few years, insofar as such cases apply to accused American persons, possibly represent clear and present danger to American persons who are by law and convention protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the Untied States. Whether the 2010 Speech Act does or can add further protection and recourse to counter initiatives against states and persons seen as infringing on First Amendment rights remains an unanswered question.</p>

<p>Joe Gordon wears glasses in the style of John Lennon. They accentuate a sense of his wide-eyed disbelief, at the turn of events that should find him here. &quot;I sleep between men,&quot; he says &quot;on the concrete. When I wake up I can barely move.&quot;</p>