Anchan Preelert, a 69-year-old former civil servant detained on a royal defamation charge, will be released tomorrow (27 August), said Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

Anchan was charged with 29 counts of royal defamation for allegedly sharing and uploading clips on social media of an online talk show that allegedly made defamatory comments about the monarchy. After she was arrested in January 2015, Anchan was denied bail and detained pending trial until November 2018.

She was found guilty in January 2021 and sentenced to 43 years and 6 months in prison. Her sentence was one of the longest ever given for an offence under the royal defamation law.

After her sentencing, she decided not to file for appeal. She was detained at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution. In total, Anchan has now spent 8 years, 4 months, and 19 days in prison.

Anchan became eligible for early release under a Royal Pardon Decree issued on 29 July 2025. In a letter she wrote to the Freedom Bridge project, Anchan said that her sentence was reduced by a third under a Royal Pardon Decree issued in July 2020. Her sentence was reduced again by half in July 2021, and again by a quarter in the latest Decree. The reduction brought her remaining sentence to 2 years, 7 months, and 20 days, which made her eligible for release.