Sirikan Charoensiri

Sirikan Charoensiri (also known as June Charoensiri, Thai:กาญจน์ เจริญศิริ) (born 1986) is a Thai human rights attorney. She works with Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) and is one of the legal representatives of the 14 student activists from the New Democracy Movement (NDM), who were arrested on June 26, 2015, after staging peaceful protests to mark the first anniversary of the military coup, which took place in May 2014.

Her work as a lawyer represents pro-democracy activists has led her to be subject to harassment from Thai authorities. Ms. Sirikan also faces several criminal charges related to her work as a human rights lawyer.

Education

Sirikan Charoensiri was born in Thailand in 1986. She attended a college preparatory education and then entered law school, graduating from Thammasat University in 2009. After completing her degree, Charonsiri completed an internship with the International Commission of Jurists and then consulted with the Association for the Prevention of Torture and the American Bar Association on the prevention of torture, human rights concerns regarding the South Thailand insurgency and implementation of the Rule of Law Initiative for 2 years. In 2013, she enrolled in a master of laws program at the University of Essex to study international human rights law.

Career

Upon completion of her LL.M, Charonsiri returned to work for the International Commission of Jurists. When the 2014 Thai coup d'état occurred, she recognized the need to set up a separate entity to deal with legal matters, as attorneys were being barred access to their clients and the military was arresting people without a warrants, detaining them without charges, and detaining them in secret camps. When she founded Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, it was initially created as a counseling hotline. Soon it expanded to a team of human rights lawyers, funded by international advocacy groups to work on violations of human rights.

In 2015, Charonsiri obtained the release of photojournalist Anthony Kwan Hok-chun, of the Initium Media organization from Hong Kong. Kwan, who had come to Thailand to report on the bombing of the Erawan Shrine, brought protective gear including a flak jacket and helmet, unaware that the items were controlled under Thai weapon's laws. He was arrested in attempting to return to Hong Kong and his passport was seized.

On 2 February 2016, Ms. Sirikan received a summons ordering her to report to Chanasongkram Police Station in Bangkok. She was accused of making a false police report and refusing to comply with an order of a competent official.

Authorities ordered her to appear at Chanasongkram Police Station for questioning, in relation to charges brought against her by Mr. Suriya Chamnongchok, an investigating officer in the case of the 14 NDM student activists. Ms. Sirikan had been accused of objecting to a search of her car by police officers on the night of 27 June 2015, and filing a false police report accusing the police of malfeasance in office under Article 157 of the Thai Criminal Code.

On May 12, 2016, the prosecutor of Dusit District Court, Bangkok informed Ms. Sirikan that police investigators have requested to press charges against her under Articles 142 and 368 of the Thai Criminal Code for propagating false accusations against investigating officers and disobeying police orders.

On September 29, 2016, Ms. Sirikan reported to the Dusit District Prosecutor's Office in Bangkok for a hearing on prosecution order under Articles 142 and 368 of the Thai Criminal Code for propagating false accusations against investigating officers and disobeying police orders. The prosecutor had decided to reschedule the meeting due to ongoing investigation of witnesses and evidence, marking the third postponement of the prosecution hearing. Sirikan Charoensiri will report to the public prosecutors at the Department of Summary Litigation 3, Dusit, on 3 November 2016.

This was the third postponement of the hearing of prosecution order. The first hearing was set on 12 May 2016. Then it was rescheduled on 27 July 2016. Later, the meeting was postponed to 29 September 2016.

Sirikan Charoensiri is facing accusations of violation of the sedition offence under Section 116 of the Thai Criminal Code, as well as violation of the Head of the NCPO Order no. 3/2015, banning political gatherings of five persons or more. She was previously summoned to report to the Samranrat Police Station on 27 September 2016. Since she only became aware of the summons upon her return to Thailand from attending the UN Human Rights Council Session in Geneva on 26 September, the police will issue a summons with a rescheduled reporting date.