On Friday, a 48 years man was jailed for 30 years
for insulting the monarchy on Facebook,in one of
the toughest-known sentences passed under the
lese majestic law.
Bangkok’s Military Court found Pongsak Sriboonpeng
guilty of posting messages and picture defaming the
monarch in six posts on the social-networking website.
Under Section 112 of the Criminal Code,anyone
convicted of
insulting the King,Queen,heir or regent
face up to 15 years in prision on each count.
Pongsak was sentenced to 10 years on each count
with the 60-years in jail term halved after he
pleaded guilty,his lawyer Sasinan Thamnithinan
told AFP.
“It ‘s broken the record”she said about the severe jail
term ,adding that because Pongsak was arrested while
Thailand was still under martial law there was no right
to appeal the sentence passed by the military court.
authorities rarely provide details of cases,leaving
rights
groups to follow prosecutions across the country.
according to the iLaw,a local rights group that monitors
such cases,there were just two ongoing prosecutions for
royal defamation before the coup.Now that number is
at least 56.
Critics of the law say it has been used as a weapon
against
political enemies of the royalist elite and their
military allies
and now targets those opposed to the 2014 coup.
In another conviction this week ,a military court in
Chiang Rai sentenced a man with a history of mental
illness to five years in jail for lese majestic.
Samak Pantay,48,was found guilty on Thursday of
slashing a portrait of the King and Queen in July
last year,lawyer Anon Numpa said.
“He confessed to the charge so the judge commuted
the sentence to five years”,he said, adding that Samak
has been medically certified as mentally sick for
“more than 10 years”.
In April a businessman was jailed for 25 years for
posting Facebook messages deemed to be defamatory
to the monarchy in a ruling rights groups described
as one of the harshest known.
News,Bangkok Post, 7 August 2015
I am a royalist,I love the King and pround to be the
people of the King.
I do not believe that the cases ruled guilty use as a
weapon
against political enemies of the royalist elite and
those who
opposed the 2014 coup.
Still I feel that the broken record jailed term of 30
years
for lese majeste is very severe punishment.
Sincerely Yours.
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