Law and order Malawi Regional

Thai woman gets longest prison sentence for insulting the monarchy

1 Min Read
Thai woman gets longest prison sentence for insulting the monarchy

A woman in Thailand has been sentenced to 43 years in jail for sharing online posts criticizing the royal family.

The former civil servant, Anchan Preelert was sentenced by a criminal court in Bangkok on Tuesday, January 19.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, the accused posted audio clips on Facebook and YouTube with comments deemed critical of the monarchy.

According to The Guardian, Anchan, 65-year-old, was found guilty on 29 counts of breaching the lese-majesty law which states that anyone who defames, insults or threatens the king, queen, heir apparent or regent can face between three and 15 years jail term.

She was initially sentenced to 87 years but her prison term was slashed after she agreed to plead guilty.

Authorities briefly stopped using the lese majeste law in 2018 but it was reinstituted last year by police following mass critics of the monarchy by leaders of protests in the country.

At least 40 youth activists have been charged under lese majeste law since November although none of those cases has been brought to trial.

On Monday, another man was sentenced to more than four years in jail after publishing articles and poems online that the court said contained falsehoods about the monarchy.

Angella Semu

I hold a Bachelor of science degree in Agriculture Development Communication that I obtained from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. I previously worked with The Nation Publications Limited since 2018 before joining The Maravi post particularly on Agriculture Desk as an intern before I became a correspondent. Currently I am reporting for The Maravi Post mainly in International News and locally in the Southern region of Malawi.