Sirawith "Ja New" Seritiwat in critical condition after being assaulted
On 28 June 2019, pro-democracy human rights defender Sirawith "Ja New" Seritiwat was assaulted by four unidentified men as he was leaving his home in Bangkok’s Klong Sam Wa district. He sustained serious head injuries and has been admitted to the ICU at Navamin 1 Hospital, where he remains unresponsive and in critical condition.
Sirawith Seritiwat is a pro-democracy human rights defender involved in the New Democracy Movement. He began his advocacy while he was a student at Thammasat University and has actively spoken up against the undemocratic rule of the military regime in Thailand.
On 28 June 2019, pro-democracy human rights defender Sirawith "Ja New" Seritiwat was assaulted by four unidentified men as he was leaving his home in Bangkok’s Klong Sam Wa district. He sustained serious head injuries and has been admitted to the ICU at Navamin 1 Hospital, where he remains unresponsive and in critical condition.
Sirawith Seritiwat is a pro-democracy human rights defender involved in the New Democracy Movement. He began his advocacy while he was a student at Thammasat University and has actively spoken up against the undemocratic rule of the military regime in Thailand.
On 28 June 2019, at around 11.30am, Sirawith Seritiwat was ambushed by four unidentified men as he was leaving his house near Klong Sam Wa district in Bangkok. The men hit him with baseball bats and left him bleeding and unconscious on the pavement. A few bystanders came to his aid before the ambulance arrived. Witnesses report that the attackers were wearing helmets and rode away in motorcycles without license plates.
Sirawith Seritiwat was admitted to Navamin 1 Hospital at around 11.50am and it was found that he had sustained fractures in his skull as well as a broken nose and eye socket. Doctors transferred him to the ICU at around 2pm due to his persistent unresponsiveness.
This is the second time Sirawith Seritiwat has been assaulted in the past month. On 2 June 2019, at around 10pm, a group of five helmeted men attacked him with wooden sticks on Ratchadaphisek Road in Din Daeng district, in the middle of a busy street. The attack only ceased after a few passers-by intervened. Nonetheless, the human rights defender sustained injuries to his face and head.
Attacks against pro-democracy activists have been increasing in the past few months in the context of Thailand’s general elections in March, the process and results of which have come under intense scrutiny and critique by observers. The latest assault against Sirawith Seritiwat is part of this worrying trend of escalating violence against pro-democracy activists in Thailand.
At the end of March, Ekachai Hongkangwan’s car was set ablaze by unknown assailants and Anurak Jeantawanich was assaulted by unidentified men outside his home. The two activists had just returned from a campaign calling for more transparency in the election process. Ekachai Hongkangwan and Anurak Jeantawanich were assaulted again with heightened violence on 13 May 2019 and 25 May 2019 respectively by unidentified assailants.
Front Line Defenders condemns the attacks against Sirawith Seritiwat, which it believes to be a result of his peaceful and legitimate human rights work, specifically on democratisation in Thailand. Front Line Defenders further expresses grave concern about the escalation in attacks against activists advocating for democracy in the country.
