Two jailed for royal slur in play

Two jailed for royal slur in play

Patiwat Saraiyaem, 23, left, and Porntip Mankong, 26, arrive at the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok on Monday for sentencing on charges opf lese majeste for offending the monarchy in a university play two years ago. (Photo by Thanarak Khunton)
Patiwat Saraiyaem, 23, left, and Porntip Mankong, 26, arrive at the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok on Monday for sentencing on charges opf lese majeste for offending the monarchy in a university play two years ago. (Photo by Thanarak Khunton)

Two young people accused of insulting the monarchy in a university play two years ago were each sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison by a Bangkok court on Monday.

Student Patiwat Saraiyaem, 23, and activist Porntip Mankong, 26, were sentenced after pleading guilty to defaming the monarchy following their arrest last August, nearly a year after "The Wolf Bride", a satire set in a fictional kingdom, was performed.

The pair were initially sentenced to five years in prison each but the term was reduced to two years and six months because they confessed, a judge at Ratchada Criminal Court in Bangkok said.

"The court considers their role in the play caused serious damage to the monarchy and sees no reason to suspend their sentences," he added.

The pair were each charged with one count of lese majeste linked to the performance at Bangkok's Thammasat University, which marked the 40th anniversary of a pro-democracy student protest at the campus that was brutally crushed by the military regime in October 1973.

After the sentencing, the defence counsel for the pair, Pawinee Chumsri, said they "would not appeal" the judgement.

Police are hunting for at least six others involved in the play for allegedly violating Article 112 — the section of the criminal code which carries up to 15 years in jail for each count of insulting the King, Queen, heir or regent.

Of those on the wanted list, at least two have fled Thailand, joining dozens of academics, activists and political opponents of the coup in self-exile amid a surge in lese majeste cases since the military seized power last May.

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