After being arrested by soldiers and spent six days in a military base, the Criminal Court has detained a 53-year-old Facebook user accused of lèse majesté.
On 11 May 2017, the Criminal Court on Ratchadapisek Rd., Bangkok granted to the police the permission to detain Aekarit (surname witheld due to privacy concerns), a 53-year-old man accused of the violation of Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law.
He will be detained for the first custody period of 12 days from 11-22 May with the possibility of the custody permission renewal. The court denied the bail request of the suspect citing the severity of the charge and flight risk.
He was accused of lèse majesté for posting images of the King with comments deemed defamatory to the Thai Monarchy on a Facebook account named ‘Adisak Sakhunnoen’.
He is also accused of Article 14 of the Computer Crime Act, law against the importation of illegal computer content.
According to Pawinee Chumsri, a human rights lawyer, Aekarit has denied the accusations, maintaining that he is innocent.
The lawyer added that Aekarit was detained at the 11 Military Circle in Bangkok for six days before being taken to the court by the authorities.
His arrest came shortly after the detention of six people accused of lèse majesté and violations of the Computer Crime Act for sharing a Facebook post about the missing 1932 revolution plaque posted by Somsak Jeamteerasakul, an academic currently living in self-imposed exile in France.
Two of the six are also accused of breaching Article 116 of the Criminal Code, the sedition law.
Thailand’s lèse majesté law imposes jail terms on those who defame, insult, or threaten the King, the Queen, the Heir to the throne, or the Regent. Persons found guilty of violating Article 112 face prison terms of three to 15 years for each count.
To date, at least 64 individuals are either imprisoned or detained awaiting trial on lèse majesté charges, as it is extremely rare for lèse majesté suspects to be released on bail by the court of justice or the military court.
Aekarit behind bars (Photo from Ekachai Hongkangwan Facebook)