The Phu Khieo Provincial Court of Chaiyaphum province has dismissed charges of violating the 2016 constitution referendum law against student activist Jatupat Boonpattararaks, known as Pai Dao Din.
The court also dismissed the same charge against his colleague Wasin Prommanee.
The two were charged with breaking Section 61 (2) of the law when they wore "Vote No" T-shirts and handed out leaflets on "7 reasons why we shouldn't accept charter", an infographic prepared by the New Democracy Movement (NDM), at Phu Khieo fresh market in Chaiyaphum province on Aug 6, 2016, one day before the referendum vote.
The offence is punishable by a jail term up to 10 years.
The Phu Khieo court yesterday found the two defendants handed out the leaflets but that the distribution was in line with their rights under Section 7 of the public referendum law.
Their acts were not considered to have incited public unrest and were just an expression of opinions allowed under the law, the court said.
The content of the leaflets was also not distorted, just opinions, the court added.
For these reasons, it dismissed the charges against the defendants.
The court's opinions differ from those of constitution writers and election commissioners, who decided in July 2016 that the NDM document contained lies and distorted information, and could therefore not be handed out in public places.
The activists were also charged with disobeying an order issued in 2006 by the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) when they refused to be fingerprinted as requested by officials, an offence punishable by up to six months in prison or a fine of not more than 1,000 baht.
On this charge, the court found them guilty and fined them 500 baht each. The fine was halved because they confessed.
Jatupat is serving a sentence of two and a half years in Khon Kaen after he confessed to having shared a BBC Thai article concerning His Majesty the King on his Facebook page in 2016.
Krit Saengsurin, a Khon Kaen University student and member of the Dao Din group, welcomed the court's decision. He said the group pursues its causes aimed at promoting the interests of grassroots people, and its work carries on regardless of the fate of Jatupat.
