Activist Nawat Liangwattana has been sentenced to 1 years and 7 months in prison on a royal defamation charge for a speech given at a protest on 13 February 2021.

Nawat Liangwattana

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that Nawat was charged with royal defamation, destruction of property, blocking a public road, violation of the Emergency Decree, violation of the Public Cleanliness Act, and using a sound amplifier without permission for his participation in the protest.

He was indicted on 8 December 2021, after the public prosecutor ruled that calling for monarchy reform, demanding that the King must be under the Constitution, and questioning how the royal family uses taxpayers’ money is not an expression of opinion in good faith and can damage King Vajiralongkorn’s reputation.

On Wednesday (26 April), the Criminal Court sentenced Nawat to 3 years in prison for royal defamation. He was also sentenced to 2 months in prison and a fine of 2000 baht for destruction of property, and a fine of 1000 baht for using a sound amplifier without permission, although TLHR noted that the maximum fine as stated in the Sound Amplifier Act is 200 baht.

Because he confessed, the Court reduced his total sentence to 1 years and 7 months in prison and a fine of 1500 baht, but did not suspend his sentence since he had committed the same offences many times.

Nawat is facing 18 charges for joining pro-democracy protests, including 4 counts of royal defamation. This is the first time he has been found guilty and sentenced to prison. He was later granted bail using a 100,000-baht security, which the Court will confiscate if he violates his bail contract.