Lawyer Arnon Nampa is already serving a four-year sentence for feedback concerning the monarchy made at a rally in 2020.
A court docket in Thailand has sentenced a jailed activist and lawyer to 4 extra years in jail for royal insults from a 2021 social media publish, his lawyer stated.
Arnon Nampa, 39, was handed the four-year sentence on Wednesday in one of many nation’s high-profile lese majeste instances. He’s already serving a four-year sentence since September for his feedback concerning the monarchy in a speech throughout a 2020 rally.
“Arnon has denied wrongdoing,” his lawyer Kritsadang Nutcharat stated, including they’d enchantment and, if crucial, take the case to the Supreme Courtroom.
The 2 sentences would run consecutively, so Arnon is ready to serve eight years.
Thailand’s lese majeste regulation safeguards its palace from any criticism, with royal insults penalised for a most jail sentence of as much as 15 years for every perceived insult.
The regulation has been criticised by worldwide human rights teams as excessive.
The decision on Wednesday is the second in 14 instances in opposition to Arnon, a human rights lawyer, who has led a democracy motion that held protests in Bangkok in 2020, calling for reform of the monarchy.
He has chosen to not request bail for his instances and stayed in jail after the court docket rejected a earlier request on the grounds that he would escape.
Not less than 262 folks have been charged with lese majeste offences since 2020, in line with Thai Legal professionals for Human Rights, a authorized help group.
The decision is a setback for teams searching for to amend the lese majeste regulation, which was a key coverage proposal by the progressive Transfer Ahead Social gathering that gained probably the most seats in parliament in Could elections, however was blocked from forming a authorities by conservative lawmakers and an unelected Senate.
