Thread: Military court gives red shirt 25 years in jail for posting lese majeste on FB

The military court sentenced a redขshirt businessman accused of posting content defaming the monarchy on Facebook to 50 years imprisonment, in camera trial, but the jail term was halved because the suspect pleaded guilty.

The man who wants to remain anonymous, whose given name begins with T and surname with S, was accused of using two Facebook accounts under “Yai Daengdueat” (ใหญ่ แดงเดือด), an anti-establishment red shirt businessman, was found guilty on five counts under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, nicknamed lese majeste law, for posting five messages.

The court sentenced him 10 years for each court.

The verdict was read in camera because the case is related to the revered Thai monarchy and might affect public morale, the court reasoned.

"The defendant insulted the beloved and revered Thai monarchy", said the judge. "The sentence handed down by the court is already light," the judge added.

The man has been detained at Bangkok Remand Prison for about three months.

The first alleged content, posted on 25 July 2014, mainly criticized the King’s sufficiency economy. It also compares the Bhutanese monarchy to Thailand’s.

The second alleged content posted on 21 August 2014 said one of the soy milk brand is contaminated.

The third alleged content, posted on 13 September 2014, had an image of a human with one eye along with Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, and messages "Your f**** father." It also talked about a behind-the-scenes story of the coup d’état. It was posted on 13 September.

The fourth alleged content, posted on 27 September 2014, had an image of a poppy and allegation that an important wealthy family involved with illegal opium business. The message also cursed this family.

The fifth message, published in early November, talked about the fate of “Uncle Somchai,” of which the police say “The use of Uncle Somchai is widely known among Internet users and red shirts to refer to His Majesty the King.” Defaming Uncle Somchai is therefore lèse majesté.

The military arrested the man, 58, and his wife on 18 December. The man was detained for interrogation at a military base in Bangkok for five days, while his wife was detained for one night. The military court issued an arrest warrant on the fifth day of military detention when he was transferred to the custody of the Crime Suppression Division.

During the military interrogation, the man confessed and was forced to provide passwords to email and social network accounts.

After 48 hours in police custody, the police on Thursday submitted a custody petition to the military court. The family of the suspect also submitted a 400,000 baht bail request.

The court, as expected, denied the bail request, saying that the charges carry a high penalty and that the suspect might flee.

The man graduated from a Faculty of Engineering with second class honours and lives in northern Bangkok.

On 25 December, his wife submitted 400,000 baht (12,270 USD) bail for Sira and informed the military court that the suspect never committed any crime before and suffers from sinusitis, allergy, and gastritis. The military court, however, denied bail, citing the severity of the charges and flight risk.

Military court gives red shirt 25 years in jail for posting lese majeste on FB | Prachatai English

Doesn't Slap have a Uncle Somchai?

Tough break...Long live the King and Queen...

Even though People may disagree with this law whilst it's in effect its better just to stay well clear of the subject.

If one wants to kick against the wind one must know he or she will be jailed.

What ever.

The military court sentenced a redขshirt businessman accused of posting content defaming the monarchy on Facebook to 50 years imprisonment, in camera trial, but the jail term was halved because the suspect pleaded guilty.

The man who wants to remain anonymous, whose given name begins with T and surname with S,

I thought he was in Dubai.