Thailand steps up investigation of royal defamation cases
Rights groups condemn Thai government s use of draconian lese majeste law to silence dissenting voices
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Royal noble consort Sineenat Bilaskalayani greets royalist supporters outside the Grand Palace in Bangkok on Nov. 1, 2020. Criticism of the monarchy is punishable by long jail sentences in Thailand. (Photo: AFP)
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed several government agencies to expedite their investigation of suspected cases of royal defamation made by citizens in public or online and bring charges against the alleged culprits.
Prayut’s call comes after numerous members of a youth-led pro-democracy movement have already been charged with allegedly insulting the monarchy, which could land them in prison for decades if convicted.
19 12 2020
As the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR) says it is “deeply troubled” and expresses “alarm” and “dismay,” the lese majeste total tops 35, including a child, and the number grows by the day.
The regime will ignore the UN and the slithering foreign minister will again explain that the is embedded in “Thai” DNA.
The child was one of “[t]wo students facing charges under the lèse majesté law for participating in a ‘fashion show’ during a pro-democracy protest on Silom Road…”. Apparently this lampooned the monarchy, thereby insulting and defaming it:
Jatuporn Sae-Ung, 23, and Noppasin (last name withheld), 16, went to Yannawa Police Station to hear the charges after they were accused of insulting the Queen by wearing Thai traditional dress, a gesture seen as mockery of the royal family, at a “fashion show” during the protest on Silom Road on 29 October 2020.