The military court sentenced a man to six months in prison for not reporting to the coup-makers in 2014, but the jail term was suspended.
The military court on Thursday morning sentenced Pongsak S, aka Sam, an anti-establishment red shirt who was accused of violating the junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Announcement No. 58/2014, to one year in prison with a 20,000 baht fine.
The sentence, however, was halved to six months imprisonment and a 10,000 baht fine with the jail term suspended for two years since the defendant pleaded guilty as charged.
Pongsak said that he pleaded guilty simply because he wanted the case to be over.
“I chose to confess just to make it fast and because it might shorten the sentence,” said Pongsak.
When asked why did he did not report to the junta, he said “I didn’t report because they [the military] came to power in an illegitimate manner”.
“In any circumstance, this should not be allowed to happen. It is totally illegitimate. Are we still living in a civilised society? This is unacceptable,” Pongsak criticised the junta.
He further said that he does not want to pay the fine. “The military does not deserve a cent from me,” said the red shirt.
Pongsak was on a list of 17 people who were summoned by the coup-makers in June 2014.
He is also accused of offences under Article 112 of the Criminal Code (lèse majesté) and Article 14 of the Computer Crime Act (importing illegal content into a computer system) for posting messages defaming the monarchy on his Facebook profile.
After the sentence was read, Pongsak was taken back to Bangkok Remand Prison since his lèse majesté case awaits trial.
Pongsak was arrested on 30 December 2014 in the northern province of Phitsanulok and has remained in custody since.
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