The Criminal Court has sentenced six protest leaders to jail terms of six months to nine years but suspended the sentences for five of them for demonstrations against the Yingluck Shinawatra government 10 years ago.
Yesterday, the court delivered its ruling on a lawsuit filed by public prosecutors against seven defendants, one of whom was acquitted.
Those named in the suit were Nussor Yeema, Uthai Yodmanee, Nititorn Lamlur, Chitpas Kridakon, Pansuwan Na Kaew, Prakobkit Inthong and Kittisak Prokkati. They were accused of illegal assembly and attempting to overthrow the country's constitutional monarchy for their roles in demonstrations led by the now-defunct People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) against the Yingluck government between Nov 23, 2013, and May 1, 2014.
The court found Nussor, the first defendant and former guard for the Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand (NSPRT), guilty of illegal assembly and sentenced him to six months without suspension.
Uthai and Nititorn, the second and third defendants, both leading NSPRT members, were both sentenced to four years and nine months in prison and fined 200,000 baht each for their roles in the demonstrations.
Chitpas, the fourth defendant and a former Democrat Party member received a nine-month prison term and a fine of 40,000 baht for inciting civil servants to stop work.
Pansuwan and Prakobkit, the fifth and sixth defendants, were given a jail term of four years and nine months and a fine of 180,000 baht.
Mr Kittisak, the seventh defendant and an academic, was acquitted as the court found that he expressed his opinions honestly based on academic information.
The court suspended all the jail terms for two years, except for Nussor's, as they had never served a jail term.