NYTimes | A
Thai theater chain has withdrawn the latest “Hunger Games” movie after
several student protesters were detained for using a gesture taken from
the films, a three-finger salute of resistance to authoritarian
government.
The
salute, which in the movies is a daring act of silent rebellion, began
to appear here in the weeks after the May 22 coup. The authorities
warned that anyone raising it in public could be subject to arrest.
The
military government in Thailand has clamped down on all forms of
protest, censored the country’s news media, limited the right to public
assembly and arrested critics and opponents. Hundreds of academics,
journalists and activists have been detained for up to a month,
according to Human Rights Watch.
The
arrests came on Wednesday, before the premiere in Thailand of “The
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.” Five students in T-shirts bearing the
slogan “We don’t want the coup” flashed the sign during a speech by
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the coup and later became head
of the military government.
The students were quickly detained by the police, who handed them over to military authorities.
Army
officials later confirmed that the students were held for several hours
for “attitude adjustment” and then released. They were told to report
back the next day with their parents and still could be charged with
violating martial law.
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