August 1, 2024
BANGKOK – The Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced a Thammasat University student activist in absentia to two years in prison for defaming the monarchy.
Activist Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, who was granted bail in February 2022, failed to appear at the initial reading of the verdict on June 25, so the court rescheduled it for Wednesday (July 31).
However, there was no sign of him on Wednesday, so the court issued an arrest warrant for police to hunt him down and get him to serve his jail term. This case has a 10-year statute of limitations.
Public prosecutors alleged that Parit had violated Article 112 of the Criminal Code (lese majeste law) and the Computer Crime Act by posting Facebook messages that expressed hatred and malice towards the Royal Family. The messages had been allegedly posted between July 28 and August 1, 2021.
Parit pledged innocence and was released on bail.
However, in the verdict read on Wednesday, the court noted that state witnesses had provided sound information to back the allegations and witnesses had no reason to frame Parit.
The court noted that the defendant had claimed during the hearing that someone had hacked into his Facebook account to post the messages. However, the court asked why Parit had done nothing to delete these posts.
The court also reasoned that Parit’s argument was unreasonable when he claimed that his July 28, 2021, Facebook post urging people to wear black was made with the intent to push for monarchy reform.
The court ruled that Parit had violated Article 112 of the Criminal Code and the Computer Crime Act on several counts, but said all these violations would be counted as one crime.
The court initially sentenced him to three years in jail, but commuted it to two years on grounds that his statement during the hearing was useful for the trial.