The punishment for insulting property in Thailand is among the harshest in the world, and rights groups consider that this punishment is used to suppress freedom of expression..
A court in the northern city of Chiang Rai found Mongul Tirakoti, 29, a social media activist and clothing retailer, guilty of two separate defamation of property cases..
The defendant’s lawyer told AFP that his client’s sentence was 42 years in prison, but the court reduced it after he testified..
He added that Mongul intends to file an appeal, and the court has agreed to release him on bail of 300,000 baht ($9,100)..
In Thailand, the penalty for insulting the majesty can be up to 15 years in prison for each count.
Mongul also faces a third separate defamation charge over online posts dating back to last year, and will appear again in court in March..
Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the 28-year prison sentence is the second highest prison sentence handed down by a Thai court in a case of defamation of royalty. And in 2021, another Thai court issued a record 43-year prison sentence against a woman, identified by her first name, Anshan, after she was found guilty of insulting the monarchy. Human rights lawyers have withheld her last name to protect her relatives.
Her initial sentence was 87 years in prison, and she is still in prison.
While the law aims to protect the Thai royal family from defamation, insults and threats, Section 112 of the penal code is expanded to include any criticism of the monarchy..
In recent years, there has been a decline in accusations of insulting the monarchy, but in the wake of the mass protests in 2020 calling for democratic change and reform of the monarchy, these issues have returned to the fore..
More than 200 cases have been filed against pro-democracy activists since November 2020, according to Thai human rights lawyers..
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