A 56-year-old activist has been sentenced to two years in prison without suspension for royal defamation stemming from live-streaming she did on Facebook while participating in a protest in 2022.
Chiratchaya “Ginny” Sakunthong, a 56-year-old political activist, was charged for royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act after livestreaming a 25 July 2022 protest she attended.
She was arrested on 12 July 2023, with police going to her residence and confiscating her electronic devices. She never received a summons.
The complaint was filed by Rapeepong Chaiyarat, a member of the ultra-royalist group, People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, who has filed defamation complaints against a number of other pro-democracy activists. In this case, Chiratchaya was alleged to have insulted the King.
She denied the allegations.
Her lawyer argued that the case was based on the comments of an inquiry officer and had never been proved by the court, a violation of an offence that must be strictly interpreted and based on credible evidence.
Chiratchaya was allowed provisional bail with 100,000 baht as security on the day she was arrested.
On Wednesday, the court sentenced her to four years in prison but, due to her guilty plea, the sentence was reduced to two years. The court did not give her a suspension on the grounds that her action damaged the reputation of the King.
Previously, she was sentenced to one year in prison for contempt of court after giving a speech in front of the South Bangkok Criminal Court on 15 July 2022 to demand the right to bail for detained activists. She was not allowed provisional bail in this case.
She also faced another charge of contempt of court for her speech on 1 August 2022 demanding the right to bail for a detained activist and was sentenced to six months in prison.
As all three sentences were ordered to run consecutively, the activist currently faces a total of three years and six months in prison. Her bail request has not been approved. She is currently detained at the Central Women Correctional Institution.
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