The three finger salute, banned in the Hunger Games movie as an act of rebellion against a fictional totalitarian regime, is now banned by a real life political regime.

The gesture was declared an act of defiance by the Thai government yesterday after five students wearing shirts saying ” Don’t want a coup” silently displayed the gesture while the Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was delivering a speech. The students were arrested and taken to an army camp where they were interrogated by soldiers.  The “act of defiance” is in response to Prayut’s overthrow of the country’s previously elected government in May. Since the political coup, Prayuth has banned public discussion about democracy and criticism of his government.

Three more student’s were detained today, one of the student’s posed with the three finger salute outside of a Bangkok cinema during the premier of ” The Hunger Game’s: Mockingjay- Part 1″ The recent rise in student activism has prompted a cinema chain in the country’s capital to cancel all screenings of the movie. Activists claim the cinema chain gave in to pressure from police to cancel viewings. One of the student activists, Nachacha Kongudom, spoke with the Associated Press and explained the relevance of the “Hunger Game’s” movies to political activism in Thailand. ” The Mockingjay movie reflects what’s happening in our society,” stated Nachacha Kongudom, “When people have been supressed for some time, they would want to resist and fight for their rights “