The Administrative Court has sentenced an anti-corruption activist to 14 months imprisonment for contempt of court, but the jail term is suspended for three years.
On 21 August 2017, the Supreme Administrative Court handed Srisuwan Janya, Secretary-General of a political group called the Association to Protect the Thai Constitution (APTC), 14 months imprisonment and fined him for 700,000 baht.
The court gave him one month jail term for each of the 14 contempt of court cases in which he was accused of using sarcastic words with intention to discredit the Central Administrative Court in petitions he submitted to the Supreme Administrative Court.
He submitted the petitions to appeal the ruling of the Central Administrative Court in dismissing 14 lawsuits he filed against the Airports of Thailand PLC. On the cases, he represented the residents around the Suvarnabhumi Airport who were affected by the noise pollution.
The court, however, suspended the jail term for three years because he had never committed any crime before.
Srisuwan was detained briefly before being released after he paid 700,000 baht fine to the court.
“I accept the court order...I think good and do good in doing cases for villagers without accepting things in return,” Srisuwan wrote on his Facebook account.
Srisuwan (second from the right) submitting a letter to the Office of the Ombudsman on 8 May 2017 (file photo)