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Court acquits 'poster' of lese majeste charge

Court acquits 'poster' of lese majeste charge

THE Supreme Court yesterday acquitted Noppawan Tangudomsuk of lese majeste charges, giving her the benefit of doubt, as there was no clear evidence to prove that she had indeed insulted the monarchy on the Prachatai web-board in 2008.

Noppawan was indicted in 2009 and charged under Article 112 of the Penal Code and the Law on Computer Crime for a post that appeared on the web-board on October 15, 2008.
The primary court dismissed the accusation and freed her on grounds that the IP address on the web-board was not enough to prove her guilty. However, the Appeals Court reversed the ruling and sentenced her to five years in jail on grounds that an IP address was enough evidence, saying the comment had been posted via an account name and password that was believed to be hers. 
The Supreme Court, however, said the IP address, account name and password were not enough to prove that it was Noppawan who had posted the defamatory comments. The court learned that the IP address belongs to Thanawan Tangudomsuk, not Noppawan, so it found no grounds to punish the defendant. 
The court delivered the verdict in absentia, as Noppawan was not present in court yesterday. 
Prachatai’s director Chiranuch Premchaiporn was also charged and indicted for allowing the post to appear on the web-board. She was sentenced to eight months jail and fined Bt20,000. Her term was suspended and the case is with the Supreme Court, which is due to deliver a verdict on December 23. 
Prachatai shut down its web-board in 2010.
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