Thai man gets 30 years in jail for monarchy-related tweets
The Criminal Court today, February 10, delivered its verdict in a lèse-majesté case involving Pruttikorn “Jo” Sarakul, a former staff member of the Progressive Movement, who faced charges under Section 112 of the Criminal Code and the Computer Crime Act.
The hearing took place after prosecutors from the Office of Criminal Litigation 4 filed charges against the defendant.
The trial continued despite Pruttikorn fleeing during proceedings, prompting the court to issue an arrest warrant and fine his bail guarantor.
Arnon Nampa, the defendant’s lawyer and a well-known political activist currently imprisoned for a separate Section 112 case, was transported from prison to attend the hearing.
This case follows an earlier ruling issued on December 18, in which the Criminal Court sentenced Pruttikorn to 20 years in prison for similar offences under Section 112 and the Computer Crime Act.
According to the prosecution, between November 8, 2021, and March 27, 2022, Pruttikorn posted messages on Twitter that were considered insulting and defamatory toward the monarchy.
The prosecution argued that the content could mislead the public and encourage hostility toward the institution. They also stated that the defendant was fully aware that the content violated national security laws.
The court reviewed the evidence and ruled that Pruttikorn was guilty under Section 112 and Section 14(3) of the Computer Crime Act.
As the offences involved multiple counts, the court sentenced him to three years per count, for a total of 10 counts, amounting to 30 years in prison. Matichon reported that this sentence will be served consecutively with an earlier ruling in case A.1485/2566.
Similarly, back in December, Thai activist Mongkol Thirakhot, or Busbas, was sentenced to 46 years in prison by the Supreme Court for his social media posts. The final ruling was delivered at Chiang Rai Provincial Court.
Mongkol is convicted under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, known as the lèse-majesté law, and the Computer Crime Act. The charges stem from 27 Facebook posts made in 2021, which authorities ruled violated the monarchy.
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