Court jails Prasit for lese majeste

Court jails Prasit for lese majeste

The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced a former Pheu Thai Party MP to two years and six months in prison after finding him guilty of lese majeste.

Prasit Chaisrisa, formerly an MP for Surin province, was convicted for remarks he made during a May 7 speech on a stage at the Imperial World Lat Phrao department store.

Parts of the speech, entitled "Stop Overthrowing Democracy", were deemed insulting to the monarchy.

The court found him guilty and sentenced him to five years in prison. The jail term was then reduced to two years and six months because Prasit confessed.

The court stopped short of suspending the custodial term, ruling his status as a former MP meant he should have exercised more discretion than an ordinary member of the public.

"The speech caused extensive damage," the ruling said. "He committed a serious offence even though he already faced several criminal charges. The court finds no reason to suspend the sentence."

The former Pheu Thai MP was arrested on May 29, shortly after the coup, and has since been detained without bail.

Lt Col Sanchai Buranasamrit, an officer with the Judge Advocate-General's Department, filed the lese majeste complaint against him with Chok Chai police.

Prasit denied the charge at first, but later submitted a 32-page document to the court retracting his earlier statement.

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