Human rights lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri to receive Lawyers for Lawyers Award
Thailand
Sirikan Charoensiri, a human rights lawyer from Thailand, will receive the Lawyers for Lawyers Award 2017. On 19 May 2017 Sirikan Charoensiri will accept the Award at L4L’s seminar ‘The Voice of Rights’, about lawyers and freedom of expression, hosted by Allen & Overy in Amsterdam. An expert jury selected her because of her “unwavering courage and commitment” and to “draw attention to the human rights situation in Thailand that is relatively unknown in the West”. Ms. Charoensiri will be the first woman to receive the Lawyers for Lawyers award.
Sirikan Charoensiri is the co-founder of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a lawyers’ collective founded shortly after the military coup on 22 May 2014 to provide legal aid and monitor the human rights situation in Thailand. As a human rights lawyer with TLHR, Ms. Charoensiri provides legal services in high-profile human rights cases on a pro bono basis. Within one year, Sirikan Charoensiri has been charged with four criminal offences in connection to her professional activities. If found guilty she could face up to at least 10 years of imprisonment. Furthermore, another case was initiated by the police against her, under charges of reporting false information for having filed a complaint of malfeasance in office against the police. If proceeded, she could face up to a maximum of 5 years imprisonment.
Please click here for the official press release.
On 19 May 2017, a seminar with the title ‘The Voice of Rights’, about lawyers and freedom of expression, will be organized to present the Lawyers for Lawyers Award to Sirikan Charoensiri. Besides Sirikan Charoensiri, lawyers from Colombia, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom will be guest speakers.
You are cordially invited to attend this event! Click here for more information. To pre-register for this event, please send an email to: S.deGraaf@lawyersforlawyers.