A Thai junta spokesman has defended the decision of the courts to issue a 30 year jail sentence for insulting the King, reports the Chiang Rai Times.
Maj Gen Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak said:
“We are applying nothing new in terms of law enforcement, it’s just a matter of the previous administration neglecting to enforce the law properly.”
Image Credit: Chris Potter (Flickr)
The 30 year sentence was given on August 7th to Mr Pongsak, who was initially given a 60 year sentence by the Military Court in Bangkok – a decade each for six separate offenses. However since the suspect pleaded guilty the sentence was shortened by half.
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A second ruling awarded last Friday saw a military court in Chiang Mai sentence a 28 year old woman, Miss Sasiwimol, to 56 years imprisonment; 8 years for 7 counts of lese majeste via a fake Facebook account. The defendant pleaded guilty and the sentence was dropped to 28 years.
Before the court decision, Miss Sasiwimol sent a letter to the court, asking for a lighter sentence as she has had no prior convictions and is a mother of two young children. Military court judges dismissed the request, arguing that her sentence is already light given the severity of her crimes.
Since the coup, there have been 51 convictions of lese majeste.
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