Man jailed for 3 years and 4 months
A man who was arrested in March 2011 for selling pirated copies of an Australian documentary critical of Thai monarchy and WikiLeaks papers was sentenced to three years and four months in jail yesterday for violating the lese majeste law.
The Criminal Court found Ekachai Hongkangwan guilty of violating the Constitution’s Article 8, which stipulates that the monarchy must be held in reverence. The judges said the content of the documentary produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) defamed the Crown Prince, his consort and the monarchy in general. WikiLeaks papers, which were found inside Ekachai’s satchel when he was arrested, contained text defamatory to Her Majesty, the court said. The verdict said Ekachai should consider “the feelings of [Thai] people” who revere the monarchy and that his intention to “make people believe in this information caused damage to the monarchy’s reputation”.
The original sentence was five years, but since the defendant admitted to owning and selling the material, judges decided to cut it to three years and four months. He was also fined Bt66,666 for selling videos without permit. The 37-year-old was visibly disappointed and said he would appeal the verdict, insisting that both the documentary and the WikiLeaks papers were only a simple criticism, not slander. He was waiting for the result of his bail request as of press time.
