The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Thursday demanded that Thailand’s longest-serving lese-majesty convict should be released immediately.
Lèse-majesté is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.
The behaviour was first classified as a criminal offence against the dignity of the Roman Republic of Ancient Rome.
“We repeat our call for the immediate release of prominent Thai labour activist and magazine editor Somyot Pruksakasemsuk,’’ the OHCHR’s South-East Asia Regional Office said in a statement.
The Supreme Court reduced the 10-year prison sentence for Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, 55, to six years, citing old age and time served since his arrest in 2011, which has made him the longest-serving prisoner for the lese-majesty charge.
Report says Thailand’s lese-majesty law makes it illegal to defame, insult or threaten the king, queen, heir-apparent or regent.
“Perpetrators can face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty,’’ it noted.
Somyot was sentenced to 10 years in prison in January 2013 for publishing two articles deemed to insult the monarchy.
The court found him guilty in spite of Somyot’s argument that, as the editor of the magazine, he did not write the articles, which also did not directly address the monarchy.
“While the decision is a step towards Somyot’s early release, we remain concerned by the extremely harsh sentence,’’ Laurent Meillan, acting regional representative of the regional OHCHR office, said.
Although Somyot was not prosecuted until 2013, he was detained starting in 2011.
However, bail requests were repeatedly denied.
In 2012, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Somyot’s detention was arbitrary and requested the Thai government to “release Somyot and accord him an enforceable right to compensation.’’ (dpa/NAN)
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