Facebook photo 112

It is a busy month for the royalist judiciary as it works hard to lock up and silence anyone considered disloyal to the crown.

The most recent judicial chest beating involves two pro-democracy activists, Khathathon, 29 and Natthaphon,23, who have been sentenced to prison on Article 112 and computer crimes harges “over a Facebook photo of a man holding pieces of paper with profanities in front of a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn.”

Clipped from TLHR/Prachatai

As usual, it was a well-known royalist snitch, he complaint against them was filed by Anon Klinkaew, a self-proclaimed leader of the ultra-monarchist People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy.

The snitch claims to have “discovered a Facebook photo of a man wearing a black shirt and helmet. In the photo, the man was holding two pieces of paper, which the complainant deemed defamatory, in front of the King’s portrait.”

The police found the photo and identified Natthaphon, who was arrested, while Kathathon later turned himself in to police after an arrest warrant was issued.

The Criminal Court decided that Natthaphon was the one holding the pieces of paper with allegedly anti-monarchy profanities, while Kathathon was alleged to have taken the photo. The Court concluded that the defense that the latter “was not taking a photo at a tourist site,” but was making a political statement. It also decided that the “fact that both of them chose to take a photo at the location indicated that they intended to target the King and the Queen, both directly and symbolically.”

Natthaphon was sentenced to three years and nine months, and Khathathon was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.

Both sentences were reduced “due to their helpful testimonies…”. Natthaphon got two years and Khathathon got two years and eight months.

Natthaphon previously faced another 112 charge, for which he was given a suspended sentence. He was not immediately granted bail. Khathathon was “granted provisional bail with 150,000 baht as security.”

Khathathon “was imprisoned at the Bangkok Remand Prison in 2022 for possessing explosives after he attended the 12th anniversary of the Red Shirt Crackdown on 12 April 2022. He was released on 4 July 2023.”