Nontarat Phaicharoen/BenarNews Thai activist Parit Chiwarak appeared in court in a wheelchair Monday, looking extremely frail after a 35-day hunger strike, and telling officials he had been unable to gather evidence for his defense against sedition and royal-defamation charges because he was repeatedly denied bail, eyewitnesses said. Parit, a university student and prominent figure in youth-led pro-democracy protests that sprang up here last year, had to be wheeled into the Bangkok Criminal Court for the closed-door hearing on charges related to a Nov. 13, 2020, incident at the Democracy Monument. It led to royal defamation charges being filed in February against him and six other anti-government protesters.