This article was originally published on Prachatai.
Two pro-democracy activists have been convicted of royal defamation over a statement referring to the political situation which was delivered during the APEC 2022 protest.
Activists Nutthanit Duangmusit and Sopon Surariddhidhamrong were charged with royal defamation after reading a statement referring to the current political and human rights situations in Thailand during a 17 November 2022 protest.
The protest, held from 15-19 November 2022 during the APEC 2022 meeting in Bangkok, was to oppose the attempt of the government of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to boost its legitimacy on the international stage and to protest the lack of civil society participation in determining policies being proposed at the meeting, particularly the Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model.
Many were concerned that the model would worsen community rights issues facing marginalized and vulnerable groups by taking away their resources and land, and was an attempt at greenwashing the country’s major corporations with its carbon credit model.
On 17 November, the protesters began marching from the Asok intersection to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, the venue of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, to submit a letter to the world leaders about the current political situation in Thailand. The protest on the day resulted in four people being charged with violating the Public Assembly Act, Cleanliness Act, and Sound Amplifier Act.
Apart from these four, Nutthanit and Sopon were later charged with royal defamation over a statement delivered during the protest.
The statement described the current situation as being under the shadow of the military and the monarchy, leaving the country a mere semblance of democracy.
The statement was aimed at criticizing former Prime Minister Gen Prayut. It also referred to the use of the royal defamation law to silence critics of the monarchy, but did not target any specific members of the royal family.
However, the indictment alleged that the audience could misunderstand that the King was cruel and acted against the principles of the constitutional monarchy. On Monday (29 September), the Bangkok South Criminal Court sentenced them each to three years in prison, but due to their helpful testimonies, the term was reduced to two years.
Natthanit is now facing a total of four royal defamation charges. Before this verdict, she had been sentenced to prison in a separate case for sharing a Facebook post about the monarchy’s budget. She was later granted bail pending appeal in both cases.
Sopon was previously sentenced to eight years and six months in prison in three royal defamation cases, and has been detained for two years at the Bangkok Remand Prison.