A man has been sentenced to a record 14 counts of lèse majesty. In Bangkok, three hunger strikers are demanding legal reform.
Mongkhon Thirakot has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for lese majeste on Facebook Foto: Thai Lawyers for Human Rights/ap
MAE SOT taz | A court in northern Thailand has sentenced a man to 28 years in prison for lese-majeste. This was announced by his lawyer to agencies on Thursday. Mongkol Tirakote was arrested in August 2022 for allegedly posting insulting and defamatory comments about King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Facebook.
The mail-order company and activist was even accused of 27 violations of the infamous paragraph 112 (“lese majeste”) of the Thai penal code. It is reminiscent of the days of absolute monarchy and is repeatedly used to intimidate government critics. Mongkol, who was convicted by the court in Chiang Rai and whose age is sometimes given as 27 or 29, was acquitted in 13 cases.
For the other 14 cases, he was sentenced to three years in prison. The court reduced the total sentence from 42 years by a third to 28 years because of the cooperation of the accused. The convict initially remains free on bail due to an objection, but he has to answer in March for another case in court.
Paragraph 112 provides for a penalty of 3 to 15 years per violation. According to Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch, it was the second-highest lese-majeste sentence ever. The record sentence was 43 years and was imposed on a woman in 2021, whose sentence was originally supposed to be 87 years.
In 2020, the Thai democracy movement was resurrected, which also aims to abolish or reform the monarchy. With the suppression of the movement, which is mainly supported by students, facilitated by strict pandemic measures, the cases of lese-majeste have increased sharply again.
Hunger and thirst strike in Bangkok
According to the human rights organization Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) has been investigating 228 people for lese majeste since November 2020, including 18 minors. As a rule, these are cases of peaceful expression of opinion.
Two young women also convicted of lese majeste, Tantawan Tuatulanon (“Tawan”) and Orawan Phuphong (“Bam”), protested against their bail conditions in Bangkok on January 18 and asked the court to begin their detention. They were originally arrested during public protests in February and March 2022.
Now they are protesting, for example, against being forced to wear electronic ankle bracelets and against the fact that other convicts are not released on bail. After being returned to prison, Tantawan and Orawan went on a previously announced hunger and thirst strike. They are now severely weakened and had to be transferred to a hospital.
According to his lawyer, the 26-year-old delivery driver Sitthichok Sethasavet had already started a hunger strike in Bangkok. He was sentenced to 24 months in prison on January 17 for allegedly burning a picture of the king, the online portal reported Prachatai on Thursday.
According to his lawyer, however, he is said to have tried to put out the fire from the burning king’s image when he accidentally drove past with his delivery vehicle. With his hunger strike he wants to protest that he will not be released on bail.
Soli rally with candles and sunflowers
According to media reports, there have already been solidarity actions in Bangkok and at the university in Thailand’s second largest city, Chiang Mai. In Chiang Mai are said to be noisy on Tuesday Prachatai two students were arrested who wore prisoner clothing to support their demand for the release of all political prisoners and, according to the police, “causing panic and confusion”.
In Bangkok on Thursday evening, several hundred people with candles and sunflowers expressed their solidarity with the hunger strikers and called for the abolition of the offense of lèse-majesté, the reported Bangkok Post.
Sympathizers attended loudly Prachatai party headquarters and called for solidarity there. A new parliament is expected to be elected in Thailand in May. There seems to be a willingness to negotiate on the issue of bail conditions.
But no party really dares to tackle Paragraph 112 – not even the Move Forward party, which many young people see as the only choice. She only proposes reducing the sentence to one year in prison. Because the penalties can be so drastic, the threat of paragraph 112 alone silences many who would otherwise be more critical.
