Bangkok: A political activist was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday for insulting Thailand's monarchy, a verdict likely to increase attention on the country's strict ‘lese majeste' law.
The case resulted in Thailand's second harsh penalty in less than a month under a law increasingly criticised as an infringement on free speech and an instrument of political persecution.
Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul, nicknamed ‘Da Torpedo' for her aggressive speaking style, has been detained without bail since July 2008 after speaking at rally where she used impolite language and was recorded by police.
The Criminal Court found Daranee guilty of violating the lese majeste law, which mandates a jail term of three to 15 years for anyone who "defames, insults, or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent, or the Regent."
After her sentencing, Daranee said she would not appeal: "I have no will to keep fighting and I will neither lodge an appeal nor seek a royal pardon."
Heaviest sentence
Sentiment against the lese majeste law increased after a 61-year-old grandfather last month received a 20-year sentence for four text messages sent from his phone to a government official.
The sentence given Amphon Tangnoppakul, who has mouth cancer, was believed to be the heaviest ever handed down under the law. He denied sending the messages and said he didn't even know how to send texts, which increased public sympathy for him.
The plight of ‘Uncle SMS,' has drawn international attention as well to the lese majeste law. So did the sentencing earlier this month for two-and-a-half years of Thai-born American, Joe Gordon, 55, to prison for defaming the country's royal family after he translated excerpts of a banned biography of Thailand's king and published them online. Gordon, whose Thai name is Lerpong Wichaikhammat, was detained on a Thai visit.
US State Department spokeswoman for East Asia, Darragh Paradiso, said the United States has utmost respect for the Thai monarchy, but is "troubled by recent prosecutions and court decisions that are not consistent with international standards of freedom of expression."
