30 years jail for monarchy insult on Facebook
Thailandâs lese-majeste laws are the worldâs harshest and make it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the monarchy.
The punishments come at a time of heightened anxiety over the health of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 87. The worldâs longest-reigning monarch, Bhumibol has been in hospital since being admitted for a check-up on May 31.
Nervousness over the succession has formed the backdrop to a decade of political crisis in Thailand as former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies have vied for political power with the establishment, dominated by the royalist military.
The sentences are the latest in a surge in prosecutions and jail time for âlese majesteâ offences since Thailandâs military took power in a May 2014 coup.
Military courts try most cases, in a junta-led crackdown that rights groups call an assault on free speech.
Pongsak Sriboonpeng, 48, was initially given a sentence of 60 years for six Facebook posts between 2013 and 2014, his lawyer, Sasinan Thamnithinan, said.
But the time was halved because he pleaded guilty, Sasinan told.
Pongsak, a self-described âred shirtâ supporter of the exiled Thaksin Shinawatra, was shackled on his hands and feet for the hearing in a Bangkok courtroom that lasted less than an hour and was closed to the media.
Military prosecutors and court officials declined to comment on Pongsakâs case.
In the northern city of Chiang Mai, another military court halved a jail term of 56 years for a 29-year-old woman, Sasivimol, who pleaded guilty, said Yingcheep Atchanont, a researcher at legal monitoring group iLaw.
The woman, who wanted only her first name used, was convicted for seven Facebook posts that insulted the royals, Yingcheep said.
âAs far as we have recorded, these are the heaviest sentences for lese majeste in history,â he said.
Since the 2014 coup, authorities have charged at least 51 people with lese majeste, including 24 convictions, a sharp rise over previous years, iLaw data shows.
