Woman gets 43-yr jail term for insulting Thai monarch
- by Leona Burton
- in World Media
- — Jan 22, 2021
The 65-year-old woman, who was arrested in 2015, was initially sentenced to 87 years in prison, but the term was reduced to half because she agreed to plead guilty.
Violating Thailand's lese majeste law - known widely as Article 112 - is punishable by three to 15 years' imprisonment per count.
Lese-majeste carries a maximum sentence of 15 years per count, but the Bangkok Criminal Court found Anchan guilty on 29 counts.
A 43-year prison sentence given to a woman by a Thai court for insulting the monarchy could be seen as a "warning shot" to protesters demanding reform in the kingdom, according to analysts.
The move could mark the highest-profile lese majeste case since a wave of anti-government protests emerged previous year and extended to criticism of King Maha Vajiralongkorn over accusations of meddling in politics and taking too much power.
More news: Person learning resumes for students in KFL&A next week"I thought it was nothing", Ms Preelert told local media as she arrived at court on Tuesday.
The rights groups obviously condemned it.
Demonstrators have also been accused of sedition and holding gatherings in violation of Covid-19 restrictions.Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for the group Human Rights Watch, said Tuesday's sentence "sends a spine-chilling signal that not only criticisms of the monarchy won't be tolerated, but they will also be severely punished".United Nations experts and human rights groups have criticised the lese-majesty law, pointing to its sweeping defamation criteria and severe sentences. In its initial stages, the government shied away from using the lese-majeste law to pursue protest leaders, perhaps heeding Vajiralongkorn's wish, expressed shortly after he took the throne in 2016, that the government rein in the use of the controversial law.
Anchan's case was initially brought before a military court and she was detained for nearly four years while awaiting trial, her lawyers said. In 2018, she was released on bail and her case was transferred to a civil criminal court.
Anchan, who could not be reached for comments, can appeal the sentence at two higher courts, Pawinee said. Most if not all cases were based on statements made at public rallies or posted on the internet.
More news: Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer return to spearhead England’s tour of IndiaIt comes two days after Mr Thanathorn, who a court last year banned from politics for 10 years, criticised Thailand's Covid-19 vaccine strategy for being too reliant on a company owned by the Crown Property Bureau, which is under the king's personal control. "So I didn't actually assume this by way of and was too assured and never being cautious sufficient to comprehend on the time that it wasn't applicable".
He said there were 11 instances in the video where the opposition figure allegedly insulted the monarchy, and the ministry would be file a complaint under the Computer Crimes Act.
What is believed to have previously been the longest lese majeste sentence was issued in 2017, when a military court sentenced a man to 35 years for social media posts deemed defamatory to the monarchy.
The salesman was initially sentenced to 70 years but had his sentence halved after pleading guilty.
