Verdict in webmaster's lese majeste case delayed
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The Criminal Court yesterday abruptly delayed its verdict in the lese majeste and computer-crime cases against Chiranuch Premchaiporn, director of prachatai.com news website, to May 30.
The judges said there were still many documents to be reviewed.
There was much speculation as to the cause of the decision, which disappointed some foreign media representatives who had flown in for the verdict.
Chiranuch, who was charged over her failure to remove quickly enough 10 political comments posted on her site that were deemed defamatory to the monarchy, could face up to 20 years’ imprisonment. She said after learning about the deferment that it could be a good sign, as the judges apparently wanted to read all related documents fully.
However, she said, it meant waiting for another month.
“Waiting is tormenting,” said Chiranuch, adding that she had not slept well the night before and would now have be anxious for another month.
Sunai Phasuk, a researcher at Human Rights Watch Thailand who was at the court yesterday morning to hear the verdict, said we might never know whether there are other reasons behind the deferment. However, the climate of fear will continue, he said.
Webmasters who act as intermediaries will continue to fear prosecution if they allow critical discussions about the monarchy to take place on their sites, Sunai said.
“As long as there is no verdict, content controls will continue,” he told The Nation.
Benjamin Zawacki, a Bangkok-based researcher for Amnesty International, said he was surprised too.
“Maybe there’s a deeper understanding at the [Information and Communications Technology Ministry] and higher up that the implications will be far-reaching,” he said.
Besides dozens of well-wishers and many observers, representatives from the embassies of Western countries including the United States and the United Kingdom were also present yesterday. Early in the day, Chiranuch wrote an e-mail in English thanking her many foreign supporters.
