The Thai judiciary has sentenced a man on appeal to fifty years in prison for insulting the royal family, the heaviest sentence ever handed down for a crime of lese majeste, a group of human rights lawyers said on Thursday.
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The appeal judges increased by 22 years the sentence of the court in Chiang Rai (north), which sentenced the activist to 28 years in prison last year, said the group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).
Mongkol Thirakot, 30, was found guilty of 11 additional offenses on appeal, the release said. He decided to appeal to the Court of Cassation.
The young man, owner of an online clothing store, is charged with 27 Facebook posts defaming the king and his family.
“This is, to our knowledge, the longest lese majeste conviction,” wrote THLR on X (ex-Twitter), which specializes in cases of this type.
The previous record conviction, 43 years, dated January 2021, against a woman for anti-monarchy audio messages on social networks.
Thailand's lese majeste law, considered one of the strictest of its kind in the world, punishes any insult to King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his family with up to fifteen years in prison.
The reform or even abolition of this text is at the heart of the demands of the democracy movement, which, despite a victory in last year's parliamentary elections, remains limited to the opposition camp.
Human rights organizations have denounced the abuse of lese majeste to suppress dissenting voices following massive demonstrations in 2020 and 2021 demanding reform of the monarchy.
According to THLR, more than 250 people, including minors, have been charged with violating the lese majeste law since the movement began.
This record sentencing comes a day after a key pro-democracy figure, lawyer Arnon Nampa, was sentenced to an additional four years in prison for three posts on Facebook.