Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, a long time union and democracy activist in Thailand, has been in prison since 30 April 2011 and faces a further ten years jail under the repressive Article 112 – the Lèse Majesté law. For more than 20 years, Somyot has been a key labour activist in Thailand supporting the empowerment of workers and building genuine, democratic unionism. On 23 January 2013, Somyot was convicted under Article 112 and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment.
The campaign to free Somyot and abolish 112 has received strong trade union support in Australia from the Victorian Trades Hall Council, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and by unions internationally including the IndustriALL Global Union.
Amnesty International has declared Somyot a Prisoner of Conscience. His case has been raised at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation.
Support the international campaign to free Somyot
