Nut Rungwong or Somsak Pakdeedech

Nut Rungwong, known as Somsak Pakdeedech, his pen name at the Thai E-News website he oversaw, has been sentenced by a military court on 24 November 2014 to nine years in jail for lese majeste.

Nut is accused of publishing an article deemed to defame the King on a popular anti-establishment news aggregator.

As is the pattern in lese majeste cases, the sentence was halved after the defendant entered a guilty plea.  Defendants know that if they fail to admit guilt that their cases will be dragged out for months and that they will still be declared guilty by politicized courts, military or civilian.

Thai E-News is a site that has been popular with red shirts.

Nut is reported to have been arrested during a military raid on his house on 25 November, and we assume this was last year.

It is reported that the content leading to the charge is an article by Giles Ji Ungpakorn, a former Chulalongkorn University political scientist who has lived in self-exile in the UK since 2009, also facing lese majeste charges. The article was published in 2009.

Nut stated: “The verdict didn’t surprise me. Personally, I think everything will change. I’m not allowed to talk but … We shall overcome…”.

The Royal Household Bureau approved a request for royal pardons from Nut and he was released in January 2016 after serving about 19 months of his prison term.

Media reports on Nut’s case:

Prachatai, 21 April 2016: “Two lѐse majesté convicts released on royal pardon”

Prachatai, 24 November 2014: “Military court sentences website editor to 9 years in jail for lèse majesté”

The Guardian, 24 November 2014: “Thai news website editor jailed for ‘defaming king’“