Activists warned today that free speech is being curbed in Thailand after a magazine editor was sentenced to 10 years in jail for insulting the royal family.
Somyot Pruksakasemsuk was detained last April under the lèse majesté law. A court in Bangkok found him guilty of defaming the royal family in two articles published under pseudonyms in Voice of Taksin magazine, which has now closed.
Although the articles came out in 2010, he was only arrested in 2011 after launching a petition to revoke Article 112 of the criminal code — which sets out jail terms of up to 15 years for “whoever defames, insults or threatens” the king and leading royals.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 85, is highly respected. But activists say the law is being used to stifle dissent. Somyot is a political activist who was aligned with the “Red Shirt” movement, which led anti-government protests in 2010. The EU said the verdict “seriously undermines the right to freedom of expression”.
Amnesty International said: “Authorities have increasingly used ... the lèse majesté law to silence dissent and imprison prisoners of conscience.” Somyot said he would appeal but would not seek a royal pardon.
