Thai court extends sentence for lawyer who called for monarchy reform

BANGKOK – A Thai court has sentenced a jailed activist lawyer to an additional two years and eight months in prison for insulting the monarchy at a rally in November 2020, a rights group said on Feb 20, bringing his combined sentence to more than 30 years.

Mr Arnon Nampa, 41, was a prominent figure during unprecedented youth-led democracy movement protests in Bangkok in 2020 that openly called for the monarchy to be reformed.

Thailand’s lese-majeste law protects the palace from criticism and carries a maximum jail sentence of up to 15 years for each perceived royal insult, a punishment widely condemned by international human rights groups as extreme.

Mr Arnon has been in prison since September 2023

for violating the royal insult law stemming from his speeches at political rallies and social media posts between 2020 and 2021.

The verdict on Feb 20 was the 11th of 14 royal insult cases he faces.

According to legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least 291 people have been charged with lese-majeste offences since 2020. REUTERS