Da Torpedo bail rejected
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The Appeals Court on Friday confirmed the lower court's decision to reject the bail application of lese majeste convict Daranee Chanchoengsilapakul, aka Da Torpedo, on the grounds that she poses a flight risk.
The high court’s decision said Daranee might flee in the face of her serious charges and penalties. Daranee applied for temporary release pending the appellate review on her 2011 conviction and sentencing to 15 years in jail.
Daranee, an anti-coup activist, was arrested for royal insult in 2008 after joining a Sanam Luang rally organised by the red shirts.
Following the 2009 trial, the lower court sentenced her to 18 years in jail. The high court declared a mistrial in 2011 and ordered that the case be tried again pending a review by the Constitution Court.
The mistrial was attributed to the failure to properly address a defence argument that a non-public trial was unconstitutional.
The Constitution Court subsequently ruled in favour of the lower court’s decision not to open the first trial to the public, paving way for a second trial, which ended up with the same guilty verdict but with the sentencing cut by three years.
