The police from northeastern Roi-Et Province on Friday morning charged Sombat Boonngam-anong with lèse majesté.
The charges were filed by Wiput Sukprasert, a yellow-shirt businessman, in January 2014 in Roi-Et. Wiput, whose code name is “IPad,” has filed at least 15 lèse majesté cases against prominent academics and journalists, including Pravit Rojanaphruk, a senior reporter at The Nation, Surapot Taweesak, an academic and columnist for Prachatai, and Prachatai director Chiranuch Premchaiporn.
The police accused Sombat of disseminating a doctored image defaming the monarchy.
The allegedly offensive material is a doctored image of the 2006 coup makers. In the image, the photos of Suthep Thaugsuban, the leader of the anti-election People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), and a woman replace those of TM the King and Queen, while the faces of the then Army Chief, Navy Chief, Air Force Chief, Police Chief and Supreme Commander are replaced by those of key figures of the PDRC and the Democrat Party.
Sombat told Prachatai that he did not create the doctored photo. He added that he has been very careful with the issue of the monarchy and never really touched the issue.
Read related articles: Detained key red-shirt figure Sombat urges people to stop protests against the coup
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