In Thailand, the punishment for royal defamation is up to 15 years in prison per charge.
Bangkok:
A court in Thailand has sentenced a man to 28 years in prison for insulting the monarchy in an online post, his lawyer said on Thursday.
The Kingdom’s les-majeste (an offense against the Crown) laws are among the harshest in the world and rights groups say they are misused to stifle public debate.
A court in the northern city of Chiang Rai found 29-year-old Mongkol Tirkote, an online clothing seller and activist, guilty of two separate royal defamation cases.
His lawyer told AFP that his prison sentence was originally 42 years, but was reduced by the court after his testimony.
His lawyer said Mongkol wanted to file an appeal and the court granted him bail of 300,000 baht ($9,100).
In Thailand, the punishment for royal defamation is up to 15 years in prison per charge.
Mongkol is also facing a third, separate royal defamation charge over online posts from last year and will be back in court in March.
Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the 28-year sentence was the second-highest prison term handed down by a Thai court for royal defamation.
In 2021, a Thai court sentenced a woman identified only as Anchan to a record 43 years in prison for insulting the monarchy. Anchan’s last name was withheld by human rights lawyers to protect her relatives.
Her sentence was originally 87 years and she remained in prison.
Ostensibly to protect the Thai royal family from defamation, insults or threats, Section 112 of the Penal Code is widely interpreted to include any criticism of the monarchy.
Royal defamation allegations had declined in Thailand for several years, but 2020 saw a rise in cases following largely youth-led protests calling for democratic change and reforms to the monarchy.
According to Thai lawyers for human rights, more than 200 cases have been brought against pro-democracy activists since November 2020.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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