A 48-Year-old Thai citizen, Pongsak Sriboonpeng, 48 has been jailed for 30 years for insulting the Thai monarchy on the social network, Facebook. The ruling is the toughest known sentence under the country new royal defamation law, lèse-majesté (injured majesty).
Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 87, is protected by the lèse-majesté, a rule that protects the king, queen, the heir or regent from insults. Anybody that breaks the law might face up to 15 years behind bars on each count.
Pongsak Sriboonpeng was found guilty by the military court for posting 6 messages and pictures that are found to be derogatory to the monarch. He was sentenced to 10 years on each count, and got 60 years that was halved after he pleaded guilty to the charges, his lawyer, Sasinan Thamnithinan, said.
"It's broken the record," she said of the severe jail term.
The prosecution for royal defamation had risen from two to 56 since the Thai military assumes power, rights groups say.
In April, a 58-Year-Old businessman was jailed after he posted a derogatory comment about the monarch on Facebook. He was jailed for 25 years.