Turkish Weekly: 07 June 2016, By Max Constant
Rights groups have called on Laos to immediately release three young Laotians arrested and detained since March on charges of criticizing the country’s communist government.
The trio is accused of participating in a demonstration last December in front of the Laos embassy in Thailand, and criticizing the “regime” on Facebook.
“The government’s systematic repression of all forms of peaceful dissent underscores the immense gap between Vientiane’s promises to the international community and its abusive behavior at home,” Karim Lahidji, president of the Paris-based International Federation of human rights, said Monday in a joint statement with the Laos movement for human rights.
“Laos authorities must immediately and unconditionally release three individuals who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained incommunicado for criticizing the government,” he added.
Lodkham Thammavong, a 30-year-old domestic worker, Somphone Phimmasone, a 29-year-old security guard, and delivery man Soukan Chaithad, 33, were shown May 27 on a Laos state security TV channel in what appeared to be a pre-recorded broadcast admitting that they recognized their mistake of “getting involved with a group that protested against the country’s policies”. Continue reading “Rights group demands Laos release detained activists”