A Thai court sentenced 30-year-old Mongkol Tirakot to 50 years in prison for comments deemed defamatory of the monarchy.
Source: Mondo/ Tamara Sekulović
It is the highest sentence ever handed down under the notorious kingpin law.
Tirakot was originally sentenced to 28 years in prison for posts he made three years ago on Facebookbut after the appeal of the prosecution, the second-instance court decided to increase the sentence to 50 years, BBC reports.
The King’s Law, which has been widely criticized, is still in force, despite the election of a civilian government last year.
Details of what led to such a draconian punishment for a clothing seller from Chiang Rai Province have not been released. The judge referred to several of his Facebook comments, and Thai courts typically add up sentences for each individual post.
The King’s Law was briefly suspended at the start of King Vajiralongkorn’s reign in 2019, but has been reinstated and has been used extensively since the outbreak of unprecedented student protests three years ago, when comprehensive reform of the monarchy was demanded.
(FoNet)