A Thailand appeal court on Thursday sentenced a man to a record 50 years in prison for insulting the country under the country's strict lese majeste law, according to his lawyer. Mongkol "Busbas" Thirakot, an online clothing vendor from northern Chiang Rai province, was originally sentenced to 28 years imprisonment last year for insulting the King, but the appeal court extended the sentence by 22 more years after finding more royal insult violations.
Mongkol was arrested in April 2021 over 27 posts he made on Facebook during March and April, which were considered damaging to the King. A criminal court found him guilty of 14 violations of lese majeste and sentenced him in January 2023 to 28 years. The appeal court on Thursday confirmed his prior conviction and further found him guilty in 11 of the 13 cases dismissed by the lower court, imposing the 50-year sentence.
Thailand's lese majeste law, one of the strictest in the world, prohibits people from criticising the king, queen or heir apparent and carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years for each perceived violation, a punishment condemned by international human rights groups as extreme. Hundreds of people have been prosecuted under this law, Section 112 of Thailand's criminal code, in recent years.
"He faces 50 years jail, the longest in the history of article 112 cases," Mongkol's lawyer Theeraphon Khoomsap told Reuters, adding that Mongkol denies any wrongdoing and will appeal his sentence to the Supreme Court. Additionally, legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said Thailand's "anachronistic" lese-majeste law is in "dire need of reforms", CNN reported.
“Thailand cannot expect to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council later this year if it refuses to address the elephant in the room,” said Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, advocacy lead at TLHR, appealing the government to amend the law and bring it as per international standards.
Why is the law criticised?
According to TLHR, at least 262 people have been charged with lese majeste offences since 2020 when unprecedented youth-led street demonstrations erupted in which protest leaders openly criticised the monarchy. The previous record conviction of lese majeste was in 2021 when retired civil servant Anchan Preelert was sentenced to 87 years in prison for 29 counts of royal insult. Her sentence was reduced to 43 years because she acknowledged her violations.
Human rights organizations and free speech campaigners have said lese majeste has been used as a political tool to silence critics of the Thai government, given that any ordinary citizens can bring lese majeste charges on behalf of the King, even if they are not directly related to the case. Since the 2020 protests, at least 1,938 people have been prosecuted for their participation in political assemblies and for speaking out, with 286 of those cases involving children, said TLHR.
Thailand’s lese majeste prosecutions continue despite a civilian government now being in power, following almost a decade of military-backed rule. Later this month, ormer Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat faces two verdicts that could see him banned from politics and the party dissolved. His party won the majority in Thailand's elections last year but was prevented from forming the government.
The victory of Pita's party in the elections was seen as a public rejection of nine years of the generals-controlled government. Pita’s supporters, came out in hundreds in numbers peacefully in Bangkok to protest against the bid to stop him. His party had pledged to change the lese majeste law.
One of the verdicts against Pita include a decision by the Constitutional Court on whether he sought to overthrow the monarchy through his election campaign to amend the lese majeste law. Another verdict will decide whether he violated election laws by running for office while holding shares in a media company.
Move Forward, whose platform was very popular with younger people, also aims to lessen the power of major business monopolies and the military, which has launched more than a dozen coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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