Thailand sentenced two students to jail yesterday for two-and-a-half years for insulting the monarchy in a university play, in a case that drew dozens of activists to a protest outside the court in defiance of a ban on demonstrations.
The country has been under martial law since a coup in May last year. The convictions come amid anxiety over the health of ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 87, and the issue of royal succession.
Thailand’s lese-majeste law is the world’s harshest and makes it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the king, queen or heir to the throne or regent. The junta has stepped up a campaign against perceived insults to the monarchy since it took power.
Photo: EPA
Patiwat Saraiyaem, 23, and Pornthip Munkong, 26, were both convicted on a count of lese-majeste, which carries a maximum of 15 years in prison.
“Both suspects violated the 112 law and receive a five- year prison sentence ... reduced by half,” a judge said, referring to the penal code section.
The term was cut because both confessed, the judge said.
Photo: EPA
Patiwat appeared in court in leg irons. The pair were arrested in August over a satirical play they put on more than a year earlier at Bangkok’s Thammasat University.
The play, called The Wolf Bride, marked the 40th anniversary of an October 1973 military crackdown on a pro-democracy student protest at the university. Set in a fictional kingdom, it featured a fictional king and his adviser.
In Thailand, lese-majeste complaints can be filed by anyone, against anyone, and are always investigated by police.
Pornthip, who directed the play, said she was not afraid of prison.
“I’ve learned many things — dancing, playing music and I’ve made many friends,” Pornthip told reporters before the verdict, referring to her time in detention since her arrest.
About 40 student gathered outside the court wearing white shirts with the words “We are friends” in Thai and English. Some raised a three-finger salute that has come to represent opposition to the junta.
The declining health of King Bhumibol, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, has formed the backdrop to Thailand’s 10-year political crisis spawned by competition for power between populist former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the establishment dominated by the royalist military.
The king has long been seen as a figure of unity above the political fray. Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn has yet to command his father’s level of popular support.
Pornthip’s mother, Nuan Mungkong, told reporters the pair would not appeal: “We want this matter over.”
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including