LONDON: A Facebook user was sentenced by the military court to 50 years in jail for lese majeste, commuted by half because he confessed.
Thiansutham, whose Facebook name is “Yai Daengduad”, was found guilty on five counts for five of his Facebook posts made between July and November 2014. The court handed down a 10-year imprisonment sentence of each count, according to Thai media.
The court also said since the offence was against a highly respected institution and the punishment was already lenient a lese majeste offence carries a jail term of 3 to 15 years the sentence was not suspended.
The jail term included the detention period with police but not the 7-day detention under martial law.
The trial on Tuesday was held in closed session and relatives and observers were not allowed to attend, said Sasinan Thammanithinan, a lawyer from the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group.
Thiansutham, a 58-year-old engineer, is an entrepreneur. He was arrested on Dec 18, 2014 and questioned at an army base before being handed over to the police to be formally charged.
He has since been detained at Bangkok Remand Prison. The court turned down all his bail applications.
According to iLaw, Yai Dangduad often posted political comments and was critical of the National Council for Peace and Order and the incumbent government. His posts usually contained graphics or memes slamming the government. Some of his posts also implicated the monarchy.
