50 years in prison for lese majeste: record sentence for Thais Three years after the cable car accident in Stresa (IT) with 14 deaths: trial started

An appeals court in Thailand has sentenced a political activist to 50 years in prison for lèse-majesté. Human rights group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said 30-year-old Mongkhon Thirakot was given the record sentence on Thursday for several Facebook comments in which he allegedly defamed the king.

The proceedings involved a total of 27 Facebook posts that the suspect allegedly wrote between March and April 2021. Mongkhon Thirakot’s request to remain free pending the Supreme Court’s decision was rejected, the Supreme Court said.

According to the lawyers, this is the highest penalty ever imposed under the draconian Article 112. The controversial Lese Majesté law imposes long prison sentences of up to fifteen years for anyone who criticizes the king, queen or other members of the court practice.

The judgment has become even stricter

Mongkhon Thirakot was convicted individually for almost all of his Facebook posts. The appeals court in the northern city of Chiang Rai even tightened the previous court’s sentence, which had imposed a 28-year prison sentence last year.

Thailand punishes lese majeste more severely than almost any other country. For a long time, the law was considered inviolable – until 2020. There were massive protests by the democracy movement, with hundreds of thousands publicly calling for a reform of the constitution and the monarchy. Since then, persecutions have only increased. (sda/dpa)