Red shirt leader Nattawut Saikua (centre) and other leaders wave to media as they leave at the Military court in Bangkok, yesterday.
Bangkok: Thailand's military-appointed attorney-general yesterday charged 19 leaders of the opposition "red shirt" group with violating a junta ban on political gatherings.
The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, known as the "red shirts", led street rallies in 2009 and 2010 in support of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, and staged rallies in 2014 when his sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was toppled in a coup.
Since taking power in the May 2014 coup the junta has moved to root out Thaksin's influence and has cracked down on activists, journalists and dissidents.
The junta has banned political gatherings of more than five people and summoned hundreds of people for questioning.
Supporters of the red shirt movement say the junta has especially targeted pro-Shinawatra red shirts.
The military denies it is targeting Shinawatra supporters.
The 19 men were originally arrested and charged by police in August for violating a ban on political gatherings after setting up a monitoring centre to oversee a constitutional referendum held by military government.
"Today the attorney-general has ordered all 19 to be charged and the court has accepted the charges. We will ask for bail," Winyat Chatmoontree, a lawyer for the movement, said.
