A written statement submitted to the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status

On 8 May 2013, the lawyer of human rights defender and magazine editor Mr Somyot Prueksakasemsuk submitted an application to the Supreme Court in Bangkok to refute the ruling by the Appeal Court rejecting his previous application. On 3 April 2013, the Appeal Court had rejected the lawyer's application for Somyot Prueksakasemsuk to exercise his right to bail. Somyot Prueksakasemsuk was sentenced to 10 years in jail by the Court of First Instance on 23 January 2013 on charges of publishing two articles with negative references to the Thai monarchy under the lèse majesté law. 

Around 20.05, on Wednesday, 1 May 20130, at least four perpetrators with two motorcycles used war weapons and fired into the crowd in front of a grocery shop located at 17/12, Poon Sawat Road, Moo 5, Ban Kok Muang, Rusamilae sub-district, Muang District, Pattani. Six deaths included one two years old child and a severely injured. The killing of innocent people is gross human rights abuse and unlawful. It simply incurs an atmosphere of fear among local people.

As Malaysians go to the polls on Sunday, 5 May 2013, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned that voters are being denied their rights to fair and credible sources of information. For any electoral process to be meaningful in a democracy, citizens must be able to access fair and accurate information, from diverse sources, so that they can make informed choices.