Bangkok, Jan 4: A blind woman was jailed for 18 months by a Thai court Thursday for sharing a Facebook post deemed defamatory to the royal family, her lawyer said, the latest victim of a tough law that shields the monarchy from criticism.
Nuhurhayati Masoe, 23, who hails from Thailand’s Muslim-majority Yala province, was punished for publishing an excerpt from an article on the social media platform in October 2016. She heard the article through an audio application for blind people. “Judges said they sympathised with her because of her blindness but could not suspend the sentence as she has committed a serious offence,” defence lawyer Kaosar Aleemama told AFP. Her initial three-year sentence was halved to 18 months because she pleaded guilty, the lawyer added.
It is not possible to report the contents of the allegedly defamatory Facebook post as all media based in Thailand must self-censor or risk falling foul of
the broadly-interpreted lese majeste law.
Thailand aggressively pursues critics of the monarchy under the law, which carries up to 15 years in prison per offence. The legislation specifically bars defaming the king, queen, heir or regent.
But it is freely used to silence any criticism of the monarchy, an opaque, ultra-rich institution that wields vast power behind the scenes in Thailand.
AFP