BANGKOK: Thai authorities arrested a group of activists wanted for attempting to demonstrate against the military last month, police said on Thursday, the latest arrest of dissidents in the junta-ruled country.

Soldiers detained one student activist from the New Democracy opposition group late on Wednesday. Police arrested a further three members of the group on Thursday.

A Bangkok military court later released the students, saying there was no reason to detain them because the punishment for defying a junta ban on protests was negligible.

“There was no point to detain them,” said Anon Numpa, a lawyer for the activists.

They were the latest arrests by the army, which took power in a May 2014 coup and has since curbed basic freedoms and cracked down on critics.

The junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order, has defended the need to curb criticism at a politically sensitive time for the country.

Sirawith Seritiwat, a student leader, said he was whisked away from a university campus north of Bangkok on Wednesday.