Court vandal gets suspended jail term

Court vandal gets suspended jail term

Nathaphol Khemngern is brought into a press conference by officers of the Metropolitan Police Bureau on Tuesday after he was arrested for vandalising the Criminal Court. (Photo b Pornprom Sarttarbhaya)
Nathaphol Khemngern is brought into a press conference by officers of the Metropolitan Police Bureau on Tuesday after he was arrested for vandalising the Criminal Court. (Photo b Pornprom Sarttarbhaya)

A 22-year-old man was sentenced on Wednesday to one month in jail, suspended, for spraying an anarchist symbol on the front wall of the Criminal Court.

The court ruled that Nathaphol Khemngern's act was contempt of court and handed him a one-month jail term. But the sentence was suspended for one year due to his confession and because he did not have a criminal record.

Mr Nathaphol sprayed the symbol on two spots on a court sign on Ratchadaphisek Road on Sunday and was arrested on Monday after police tracked him from footage from a security camera.

He told the court that his act of vandalism was not related to political motives and said spraying the symbol was intended to attract the attention of the authorities and seek justice for a friend who was shot dead by a soldier in February.

His friends were at the courtroom to support Mr Nathapol and showed relief after the verdict.

But the former student was not released. He was taken by Corrections Department officials to the Bangkok Remand Prison after he did not post bail on another charge of violating the Cleanliness Act.

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