A Thai activist-turned-lawmaker has been sentenced to six years in prison for insulting the country’s powerful monarchy on social media.
Move Forward Party (MFP) MP Rukchanok Srinork was sentenced on Wednesday over a series of posts that a judge deemed defamatory to the crown, her lawyer and members of her progressive political party said.
“Rakchanok Srinork was sentenced to three years on a 112 (lese-majeste) charge and three years on a Computer Crimes Act charge,” MFP leader Chaithawat Tulathon told the AFP news agency.
Srinork has applied for bail and offered 300,000 baht ($8,500) as security.
The 29-year-old faces disqualification as a member of parliament for Bangkok if the court does not grant her bail, her lawyer and fellow lawmaker Weeranan Huadsri told the Reuters news agency, adding she would appeal the sentence.
Rukchanok was convicted for retweeting posts in 2020 on the social media platform now known as X that related to a company owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn and the manufacturing of a COVID-19 vaccine. She denies all charges.
Credit: aljazeera.com
