BANGKOK, Aug. 7 (UPI) — Thailand military courts sentenced two people Friday to stiff sentences for insulting the Thai monarchy in Facebook posts.
In separate cases, each was accused of writing offensive online comments about King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is 87 and rarely seen in public. Thai law forbids defaming or insulting the monarchy, in any form.
Pongsak Sriboonpeng, 48, of Bangkok was sentence to 60 years imprisonment, 10 years for each of six Facebook posts, but had the sentence cut to 30 years after admitting wrongdoing. His case was not heard in a public court, Bangkok Military Court chief judge Maj. Gen. Panomthep Wesaratchanun said, because what he (Sriboonpeng) wrote was beyond rude. Even the prosecutor did not want to read them out loud.”
An unidentified female, 29, a hotel worker and mother of two, in Chang Mai was also found guilty of posting insulting comments, and received a 56-year sentence, which was also halved after she pleaded guilty.
Earlier this week, a man in Chang Rai province received a five year sentence, halved from 10 years because his lawyer claimed the man was mentally ill, after he ripped a photograph of the king.
The Thai legal rights activist group iLaw said 56 other prosecutions involving similar offenses are ongoing. Critics have claimed enforcement of the law is used to quash political dissent. The military junta that took over Thailand has made reverence of the monarchy a top priority, despite the king’s failing health, and Thais in general hold him in high esteem despite his lack of a formal political role.
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