The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists called Friday on Thai authorities to drop lese-majeste charges filed against an editor that could lead to a 30-year-jail sentence.

“The growing official use of lese-majesty charges to stifle free expression has greatly undermined Thailand’s democratic credentials and done more harm than good to the royal institution the laws are designed to protect,” argued Shawn Crispin, the committee’s senior South-East Asia representative.

Read more: The Nation