On 18 May, a bail request by Somyot Prueksakasemsuk was denied yet again and the Constitutional Court dismissed his petition to seek its ruling on the constitutionality of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lèse majesté law.

Somyot was denied bail for the 10th time since he was arrested and detained in 30 April 2011, according to his lawyers. This time, bail was sought with a guarantee of 3 million baht, including his personal assets worth two million baht and one million baht cash from the Department of Rights and Liberties Protection under the Ministry of Justice.

The court dismissed the request, saying that the reason for the denial had already been clearly explained previously and there was no reason to change the decision. Kharom Pholphonklang, Somyot’s lawyer, said that the defence had sought bail for Somyot yet again because they saw that the trial was already finished, and it would take so long for the verdict to come out, as the court had announced that it had to wait for the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the lèse majesté law as had been requested by the defence.

There would probably be no more bail requests, he said.

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