Thai bookseller given jail term for royal defamation
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A man was sentenced Wednesday to two years in jail for selling books that allegedly defamed the monarchy, the latest in a string of convictions under the lese majeste law.
The Court of Appeals overturned a 2014 court decision that had cleared Udomsak Wattanaworachaiwathin of any wrongdoing in a case that stretches back nine years.
The grey-haired 66-year-old was initially arrested in May, 2006, for selling two books that allegedly defamed His Majesty the King during a protest in a Bangkok park.
But prosecutors only filed charges against him seven years later, according to iLaw, a local legal group that monitors lese majeste cases.
A criminal court dismissed the charges in March, 2014, after ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove that Udomsak knew the content of the books was defamatory of the monarch. Prosecutors then appealed the ruling, resulting in yesterday's conviction.
“The defendant’s behaviour has shown that he knew the book had insulting details about the monarchy, and he could not prove the two copies he sold belonged to other people as he had claimed,” the judge said.
But the judge said she decided to reduce the sentence from three to two years because of “useful testimony” by Udomsak.
Udomsak showed no emotion as the verdict was read out. His lawyer, Yaowalak Anuphan, said they would appeal to the Supreme Court.
“We are confident he is innocent, he really had no idea about the [contents of the] book,” she said.
Udomsak’s request for bail pending his appeal to the Supreme Court was denied but the judge said the higher court could decide whether to grant bail in the coming days.
