Dead queen 112

Prachatai reports yet another decision by prosecutors to ignore the wording of Article 112.

It states that four Thammasat University students face 112 charges for a political parody parade at the university that police interpret as an attack on the dead Queen Sirikit.

The case results “from a post on a page titled ‘Thammasat University independent political parody group,’ in which cloth signs were posted.”

Clipped from Ugly Thailand

A police officer from the Khlong Luang Police Station was put up as a complainant. The police investigation report claims that one sign (of four) and allegedly held by the four students, “was found to refer to the monarchy, and the four were later identified as the suspects in this case.”

The activity was claimed to “coincide with the Queen Mother’s royal funeral procession, which travelled from Chulalongkorn Hospital to the Grand Palace.” The students were tens of kilometers away, but the royalist “authorities concluded that the messages on the signs targeted the Queen Mother, and that they constituted insult and defamation against a member of the royal family.”

Of course, as literally everyone knows, a dead queen is not covered under Article 112, but the royalists of the judiciary have found dubious ways of including pretty much anyone who can be claimed to be royal or associated with royals.

The four students are charged under 112 and with computer crimes. royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act. All have denied the charges. They were released after questioning.

One of the four stated: “I do not want anyone to be prosecuted under Section 112 (royal defamation) in this era. Thailand is not a barbaric country…”.

Sadly when it comes to 112, Thailand’s authorities are nothing but barbaric.