Thai man faces 50 years in prison for lese majeste

Mongkol "Busbas" Thirakot will continue to appeal to the Supreme Court (Illustration photo: Wikipedia).

Mongkol "Busbas" Thirakot, 30, an online clothing seller in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, is facing a 50-year prison sentence for lese majeste, Reuters reported.

Mongkol has posted dozens of posts on social media sites with content that allegedly insults the Thai Royal Family.

Thailand's lese majeste laws, among the strictest in the world, prohibit criticism of the monarchy. Violators can face up to 15 years in prison for each offense.

Mongkol was arrested in April 2021 and initially sentenced to 28 years in prison in January 2023 for 14 counts of lese majeste. He later appealed.

The appeals court later found Mongkol guilty of 11 additional lese majeste charges, adding 22 years to his sentence.

"My client faces a 50-year prison sentence, the longest in the history of Article 112 cases," Mongkol's lawyer, Theeraphon Khoomsap, told Reuters.

Article 112 of Thailand's Criminal Code criminalizes lese majeste, according to Reuters. Theeraphon said Mongkol denied wrongdoing and would appeal to the Supreme Court.

The current record for a lese majeste-related sentence was in 2021 when Anchan Preelert, a retired civil servant, was sentenced to 87 years in prison for 29 counts of insulting the monarchy. Her sentence was later reduced to 43 years because she admitted to the offense.

According to a legal aid group in Thailand, at least 262 people in the Southeast Asian country have been charged with lese majeste since 2020.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/nguoi-dan-ong-thai-lan-doi-dien-50-nam-tu-vi-toi-khi-quan-20240118195629407.htm