An online clothing vendor detained pending appeal on a royal defamation charge has been granted bail and was released last Thursday (12 December) after over a year in detention.

Jirawat (last name withheld), 33, has been detained since December 2023, after he was found guilty of royal defamation for sharing three Facebook posts, including one from the anti-monarchy Facebook page KTUK – Khonthai UK, which stated that the Thai government was unable to import good Covid-19 vaccines because it had not joined the World Health Organisation’s COVAX programme. It also noted that King Vajiralongkorn held shares in the only company licensed to produce a Covid-19 vaccine in Thailand. Jirawat was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), Jirawat said that the complaint against him was filed by Pattarawan Khumma, a relative of his wife who used to work for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). Jirawat stated that Pattarawan and his wife had a fight before the complaint was filed, leading him to suspect that she was using the royal defamation law to harass him for personal reasons.

Under cross-examination, Pattarawan admitted that she is related to Jirawat’s wife but refused to answer questions about the fight.

Jirawat has been repeatedly denied bail. TLHR said that his lawyers have repeatedly attempted to request bail for him since his wife has cancer and is now their daughter’s primary caregiver. On Monday (9 December), his lawyer appealed a court order denying him bail. The request was forwarded to the Supreme Court, which granted him bail on a security of 250,000 baht. He was also required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and prohibited from leaving the country or repeating his offence.

His bail request noted that he has filed for appeal and should be treated as innocent, and that he was granted bail during his trial on the condition that he does not repeat his offence and has never broken his bail condition. He has attended every court hearing and is not a flight risk. It also noted that Jirawat is the main breadwinner for his family, and that his wife has stage 4 cancer. She recently had surgery and has to undergo chemotherapy, but was unable to follow her treatment plan while he was detained and could not care for their daughter.