Thai court acquits opposition politician accused of royal insult

A Thai criminal court has acquitted a prominent Thai opposition political figure charged with ​cybercrimes and insulting the royal family during ‌a 2021 Facebook livestream, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the 47-year-old founder of the progressive political ​movement aligned with the current opposition People’s ​Party, had been accused of lese majeste ⁠and violating the country’s cyber laws during ​the January 2021 livestream, in which he said ​the government had mishandled its COVID-19 vaccine campaign and unfairly favoured Siam Bioscience, a company owned by King Maha ​Vajiralongkorn.

He was formally indicted in 2022.

Thailand has one ​of the world’s strictest lese majeste laws, and a ‌conviction ⁠carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. Breaches of the Computer Crimes Act are also punishable by up to five years in prison.

Thanathorn’s lawyer, ​Krisadang Nutcharat ​said the ⁠prosecutor has 30 days to appeal the court’s sentence.

The office of ​the attorney general did not immediately respond ​to ⁠a request for comment.

Thanathorn was banned from politics for 10 years by the Constitutional Court in 2020 over a loan he extended to the now-dissolved Future Forward Party, the predecessor of the People’s Party.

المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)