Thai dissident jailed for two more years over royal defamation

One of Thailand's most prominent human rights activists was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday under the kingdom's royal defamation law, his fifth conviction on the controversial charges, a legal rights group said.

Thailand has some of the world's strictest royal defamation laws, which shield King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family from criticism and which opponents say have been weaponized to silence dissent.

Arnon Nampa, a 40-year-old human rights lawyer and activist already serving time in prison, was convicted on Tuesday at Bangkok Criminal Court over a 2020 social media post in which he allegedly criticized the king's authority, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

The latest conviction, his fifth, means he will serve in total more than 16 years in prison, according to TLHR.

Arnon was first jailed for four years in September last year, over a speech he made in 2020 as a leading figure in the kingdom's youth-led pro-democracy protest movement which called for changes to the lese-majeste law.

On Tuesday, the court found that Arnon's online remarks had influenced others and said it was "necessary for the state to punish" him, TLHR said on X.

The court said Arnon's post was "insulting" to the monarch, TLHR added.

Youth-led demonstrations in 2020 and 2021 saw tens of thousands take to the streets, with many demanding changes to the strict lese-majeste laws.

Arnon is among more than 150 activists who have been charged in recent years under those laws, often referred to as "112" after the relevant section of the criminal code.

© Agence France-Presse