Thailand: Man sentenced to record 50-year prison term for insulting monarchy

A Thai appeals court extended a man's sentence to a record 50 years of prison on Thursday for insulting the monarchy, CNN reported.

This is believed to be the toughest penalty ever imposed under the country's lese majeste law, according to a legal rights group.

Mongkol Thirakhot, 30, an online clothes vendor and political activist from northern Chiang Rai province, was originally sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2023 for making social media posts that were deemed 'damaging' to the king.

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On Thursday, the court of appeals in Chiang Rai found Mongkol guilty of about a dozen more violations of the royal insult law and added 22 years to his sentence, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said in a statement.

Notably, Thailand has some of the world's strictest lese majeste laws, and criticising the king, queen, or heir apparent can lead to a maximum 15-year prison sentence for each offence — which makes even talking about the royal family fraught with risk, CNN reported.

Those convicted under Section 112 of Thailand's Criminal Code, or lese majeste law, can see sentences decades-long and hundreds of people have been prosecuted in recent years.

27 posts on Facebook

Mongkol, also known as "Busbas," was arrested in April 2021 over 27 posts he made on Facebook during March and April of that year. A criminal court found him guilty of 14 violations of lese majeste and sentenced him in January 2023 to 28 years.

However, it is not clear what the content of the posts contained, as per CNN.

The appeals court on Thursday not only upheld Mongkol's earlier conviction but, in addition, found him guilty in 11 of the 13 cases that the lower court had earlier dismissed and so imposed the longer sentence, TLHR said.

The court told Mongkol his sentence had been reduced by a third due to his cooperation during proceedings.

The Supreme Court denied Mongkol's bail request but TLHR said he plans to appeal the verdict.

"The record-breaking 50-year prison sentence imposed on (Mongkol) for his Facebook posts makes it undeniable that Thailand's anachronistic lese-majeste law is in dire need of reforms," said Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, advocacy lead at TLHR.

Akarachai said "it is a wake-up call" to the government to "amend the law and bring it in line with international standards."

"Thailand cannot expect to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council later this year if it refuses to address the elephant in the room," he said.

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