Thailand: police charge eight-year-olds with obstruction in run-up to referendum

Two eight-year-old girls have been charged in Thailand for tearing down voter lists for a controversial upcoming referendum, as the ruling junta goes to increasingly bizarre lengths to muzzle dissent.

The junta is determined to see its draft constitution passed in the referendum on 7 August and has outlawed critical discussion of the document with a 10-year prison sentence.

Campaigning of any kind is also banned and authorities have already arrested or warned scores of people for handing out critical leaflets or wearing Vote No t-shirts.

The military, which took power from an elected government in May 2014, says its draft constitution will ensure stability in a country rocked by political turmoil and military takeovers for more than a decade.

But critics, including major political parties, say the charter would give the military too much power over elected governments, and would not resolve fundamental differences between populist political forces and the military-dominated establishment.

The eight-year-olds fell foul of the junta’s law after confessing this week to tearing down voter lists outside a school in northern Thailand because they liked the paper’s pink colour.

The pair have been charged with “obstructing the referendum process, destroying official documents and destroying common public property,” said Damrong Phetpong, the police commander of northern Kamphaeng Phet province.

They will not face jail time as Thai law exempts anyone under the age of 10 from criminal punishment, he said, adding that police were still duty-bound to file the charges.

“Police have a duty to compile witnesses and evidence and then refer the case to a public prosecutor” who will decide whether to pursue the case, he told AFP.

The junta has become increasingly jittery ahead of the poll, with police initially speculating that anti-junta activists were behind the torn voter lists.

But an investigation led officers to the girls, who were questioned at a police station.

The junta opened monitoring centres across the country this month and is on high alert to block any movement against the charter from supporters of the ousted government, who are expected to vote it down.

This week authorities shut down a critical satellite TV station run by that political bloc, which has seen two of its governments removed by coups in 10 years.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report