Evidence against Piyarat ‘ Toto ‘ Chongthep from the Kalasin protest was inconclusive, according to the court.
PUBLISHED: 11 Oct 2024 at 18: 28
Piyarat Chongthep, a People’s Party MP for Bangkok, has won a unique conviction on charges of lese-majeste and computer violence, after a jury in Kalasin said the evidence against him was poor.
The prosecution’s see transactions, as well as the prosecution’s own, did not specifically identify the accused as a criminal, so the prosecutor argued that the accused deserved the benefit of the doubt.
Prosecutors said that Mr Piyarat, commonly known by his name Toto, installed seven vinyl banner criticising the president’s Covid-19 vaccine purchasing on Jan 23, 2021, which were afterwards taken down by police. Siam Bioscience, owned by His Majesty the King, was producing AstraZeneca Covid vaccinations at the time.
Later, Mr. Piyarat, a key member of the political protest group We Volunteer ( WeVo ), wrote a tweet and message asking for the return of the missing banners on his Facebook page.
Prosecution in Kalasin pressed charges against him on the grounds that a truck carrying the banners was owned by his family and that he had owned the truck that followed the truck.
The court ruled that the prosecution’s see accounts did not establish that Mr. Piyarat was present at the scene or in his car. Additionally, Mr. Piyarat was in Unique Remand Prison at the time the information first appeared, so police did not have any documentation that showed him posting the virtual messages.
After being charged, Mr. Piyarat was imprisoned for 33 time, and on his release, he was required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet for about two weeks.
In 2023 Mr Piyarat decided to switch from being a rebel to being a full-time politician. He won a seat in Bangkok’s Phra Khanong-Bang Na district under the Move Forward Party’s emblem.
The Constitutional Court disbanded Move Forward earlier this year on the grounds that its plan to alter the lese-majeste rules posed a threat to the constitutional king. It was reborn as the Women’s Party.
Following MP appealing
Another Women’s Party MP,  , Rukchanok” Ice” Srinork, is now appealing her conviction and sentence of six years, without suspension, for lese-majeste and system violence.
Following her faith in November last year, she was released on bail of 500,000 ringgit with the problem that she refrain from engaging in any activities comparable to those with which she has been charged.
Rukchanok was able to maintain serving as an MP as a result.
The jury convicted Rukchanok over comments she made about vaccine distributions, with images of His Majesty, on her Twitter accounts @nanaicez between July 18 and Aug 9, 2021. She denied all expenses.
In the 2023 public election, Rukchanok won the majority of the vote in Bangkok, which includes Bang Bon, the Ubamrung family’s enclave. She defeated Thin Ubamrung, the brother of former legislator Chalerm Ubamrung, by more than 20, 000 seats.
Since the beginning of the Free Youth demonstrations in July 2020, 1, 956 individuals have been charged with social participation and appearance, according to information from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights as of August 31 of this year. At least 273 people are facing charges of lese-majesteté under Part 112, and 152 have been charged with sedition under Area 116.