The Appeals Court yesterday reversed a lower court’s decision to acquit a suspect charged with lese majeste over remarks deemed offensive to the monarchy.
According to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, the Appeals Court found the defendant, identified only as Wutthipat, guilty of violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code.
Judges reasoned that his comment on Facebook’s Royalists Marketplace page was offensive to a former king and the current monarch.
The court initially sentenced him to five years in jail, but due to his making a statement useful to the hearing, the court commuted it to three years and four months.
The defendant was released on bail pending an appeal at the Supreme Court.
On June 2, 2020, Mr Wutthipat posted the comment online about the passing of King Ananda Mahidol, or King Rama VIII, in 1946.
On July 19, 2021, Siwaphan Manitkul, a private citizen, filed a police complaint accusing Mr Wutthipat of violating Section 112, as well as the Computer Crime Act.
During the court’s witness hearings on March 1-2 of last year, Mr Wutthipat admitted he had posted the comment and made a reference to King Rama IX, the younger brother of King Rama VIII, though he argued Section 112 did not cover past kings.
The Samut Prakan Provincial Court dismissed the case, reasoning that even though the defendant had posted a comment referencing King Rama IX with offensive remarks, Section 112 only protects the current king, queen, heir to the throne and regent.