Article 110 trial to begin

On 14 October 2020 during #14OctMob of “Khana Ratsadorn” rally, a group of protesters found themselves close to an unannounced royal motorcade, with a car carrying Queen Suthida and Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti. The car appeared to drive through the protesters, who shouted anti-royal slogans.

Several of the protesters were charged under the almost never used Article 110, which states:

Whoever commits an act of violence against the Queen or Her liberty, the Heir-apparent or His liberty, or the Regent or his/her liberty, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or imprisonment of sixteen to twenty years. Whoever attempts to commit such offence shall be liable to the same punishment.

If such act is likely to endanger the life of the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, the offender, shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life.

Whoever makes preparations for committing an act of violence against the Queen or Her liberty, the Heir-apparent or His liberty, or the Regent or his/her liberty, or does any act to assist in keeping secret any intention to commit such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment of twelve to twenty years.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights reports that the “Criminal Court starts the witness examination of Black case number Aor.778/2564 on November 16, 2022. Five defendants are charged under Section 110 of Thailand’s Criminal Code on the ground of ‘violating the liberty of the Queen’.”

The five defendants include Akechai Hongkangwarn, Bunkueanun Paothong, Suranath Paenprasert
“and two other civilians who were indicted by the public prosecutor…”.

Of course, none of them violated the queen’s person or safety, but this is royalist Thailand.

All five defendants have denied all charges.

With the case now about to begin, there “are 51 prosecution witnesses and 11 defendant witnesses.” The trial is scheduled to run through the end of January 2023.

As TLHR explain:

This case is considered one of the most important case in Thailand’s political sphere as the penalty of this case is severe that the defendants could face 16 to 20 years, life time imprisonment or even death penalty for allegedly violating the Queen’s liberty and her well-being.