The Supreme Court has sentenced a 30-year-old woman to six years in prison without suspension for royal defamation over Facebook posts. In this case, neither the woman nor her lawyer had been notified in advance that the Court would render the verdict.

Kanlaya, a 30-year-old former private company employee in Nonthaburi, was charged under Section 112, the royal defamation law, and the Computer Crime Act over four Facebook posts in 2021, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

Kanlaya’s relatives informed TLHR on Thursday (13 February) that she was taken to Narathiwat Provincial Court to hear the Supreme Court verdict. The court officials said the case file reached the Court only on 10 February and that the Court was ordered to read the verdict within three days.

As a result, Kalaya was taken to court alone, without her lawyer or family members present.

The complaint against Kanlaya was filed by Phasit Chanhuaton, an English tutor in Sungai Kolok and member of the ultra-royalist group Citizens’ Network to Protect the Monarchy. According to TLHR, Phasit has filed royal defamation complaints against dozens of people. As none of those who he accused live in Narathiwat, all have had to spend a large amount of money and time travelling to attend police and court appointments.

The actions which led to the charges included a comment about a fictional Korean king and a post about protests during 2020. She also shared posts made by exiled academic Somsak Jeamteerasakul and activist Tanawat Wongchai and added comments to them.

Kanlaya testified that she was not the one who posted the messages, as her Facebook account could be accessed by people other than herself. She also noted that the evidence provided by the plaintiff included computer screenshots without a URL, date or time stamp - materials that might have been edited and were open to interpretation.

However, her former partner testified that he and Kanlaya had already broken up when she posted the allegedly offensive messages, and he could no longer access her Facebook account because the password had been changed.

On 2 August 2022, the Narathiwat Provincial Court sentenced her to three years in prison for each of two of the posts, totalling six years without suspension. At the time, Kanlaya was granted provisional bail pending appeal with 200,000 baht as security.

The Appeal Court on 20 October 2023 upheld the initial verdict. Her bail request was appealed to the Supreme Court, and she was later denied bail after four bail requests with a security of up to 1,000,000 baht, and acceptance of all conditions set by the Court.

Since then, Kanlaya has been detained for one year and three months at the Narathiwat Provincial Prison. According to the sentence, she is scheduled to be released in October 2029.

Kanlaya had never met the complainant. Phasit also filed a complaint against Udom (pseudonym), a 34-year-old man who works in an electronic component factory. He was sentenced last week to 4 years in prison for royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act. The Appeal Court ruled on 30 August 2023 to uphold the verdict. He is now detained at the Narathiwat Provincial Prison pending appeal to the Supreme Court.