BANGKOK: An activist and lawyer made famous for his open calls for reform of Thailand’s powerful monarchy was on Tuesday (Sep 26) sentenced to four years in prison for royal insults, a judge said, in one of the country’s most high-profile lese-majeste cases.
Human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, 39, is widely known for his taboo-breaking speech during pro-democracy protests in 2020 during which he called for public debate on the role of Thailand’s king. Arnon denies wrongdoing.
Thailand’s lese-majeste law shields the palace from criticism and carries a maximum jail sentence of 15 years for each perceived insult of the monarchy, a punishment widely condemned by international human rights groups as extreme.
Arnon was a leader of a youth-led democracy movement that held protests in Bangkok in 2020 that drew hundreds of thousands of people demanding the removal of royalist former prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who seized power in a coup.
Arnon was found guilty over remarks about the monarchy at a speech during a 2020 rally, in the first of 14 cases against him for violating article 112 of the criminal code, as the royal insults law is known.
“We are trying to get him bail,” lawyer Krisadang Nutcharus told Reuters, adding his team would lodge an appeal and if necessary, take the case to the Supreme Court.
Arnon who has been on bail since early last year after several periods of detention, was not immediately taken to prison on Tuesday and remained at the court pending a bail request.