A Thailand court sentenced a lawmaker from the Move Forward Party to six years in jail on royal insult charges. Rukchanok Srinork was found guilty of lese majeste and breaching the Computer Crimes Act for reposting two messages on X (formerly Twitter), news agency AFP reported. The party won the most seats in the May general election in the country but was blocked from forming a government as it faced opposition over the pledge to reform Thailand's tough royal defamation laws.
"Rakchanok Srinork was sentenced to three years on a 112 (lese majeste) charge and three years on a Computer Crimes Act charge," MFP leader Chaithawat Tulathon told AFP. The court also issued a statement confirming the charges and sentence and announced that it had granted Rakchanok Srinork bail with a 500,000 baht ($14,000) security.
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Thailand has some of the world's strictest lese-majeste legislation that protects King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family from criticism. Critics have said that the law has been used to silence dissent. While, the Computer Crimes Act has been criticised by rights groups which say that it gives overly broad powers to the authorities to restrict free speech.
There has also been an upsurge in charges under the laws which are known in Thailand as "112" after the relevant section of the criminal code. This was followed by youth-led pro-democracy street protests in 2020 when authorities charged more than 250 activists and jailed some of the top leaders including Anon Numpa, a human rights lawyer.
{{/usCountry}}There has also been an upsurge in charges under the laws which are known in Thailand as "112" after the relevant section of the criminal code. This was followed by youth-led pro-democracy street protests in 2020 when authorities charged more than 250 activists and jailed some of the top leaders including Anon Numpa, a human rights lawyer.
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