Thailand: First Lese-Majeste Case Filed Under New King

The father of a Thai activist said his son showed no fear as he became the first person arrested and charged under Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws since King Maha Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne.

Two days after the new king’s ascension, Jatupat “Pai” Boonpattararaksa, a student activist from Khon Kaen University in the northeast, was taken into custody on Saturday under the so-called Lese-Majeste law for allegedly sharing a BBC Thai profile of the new monarch on Facebook.

Jatupat was among hundreds of people who shared the king’s profile by the BBC on social media pages, Agence France-Presse quoted an anti-junta activist group, the New Democracy Movement, as saying. A screen grab of the new king’s profile on a Facebook page showed it had more than 2,500 shares.

Jatupat, who was released Sunday on after posting 400,000 baht (U.S. $11,210) for bail, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charge, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. He is due to appear at Khon Kaen court on Jan. 23.

According to Jatupat’s father, Viboon Boonpattararaksa, a large number of police arrived in at least four pickup trucks when they came to arrest the student in Chaiyapoom province on Saturday.

“My son has not been issued a summons, but the court issued an arrest warrant and police came to arrest him,” Viboon told BenarNews in a phone interview Monday. “He was not allowed to contact his relatives or his lawyer even though his lawyer was waiting at the Khon Kaen police station.”

Police tried to provide a lawyer for Jatupat, but he refused, according to his father.

“Pai was not scared. They argued over his ‘rights’ until the police allowed him to contact his own lawyer,” Viboon said, who himself is an attorney.

Khon Kaen police said they could not comment on the case.