A Thai court sentences an opposition MP to 2 years in prison for defaming the monarchy.

BANGKOK — A Thai court on Monday sentenced a progressive opposition party lawmaker to two years in prison after finding her guilty of defaming the monarchy in a speech she gave at a protest rally there three years ago.

Chonthicha Jangrew of the Move Forward party was greeted by several supporters when she arrived at the Thanyaburi provincial court in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok, along with some party colleagues. Chonthicha, known by her nickname “Lookkate”, represents a constituency in Pathum Thani.

His charges stem from his 2021 speech demanding the release of all political prisoners during a rally outside the same court that handed down Monday's sentence.

She was found guilty of parts of the speech regarding how the government then led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had changed laws to give King Vajiralongkorn more power to control the palace's wealth, which is managed by the Office Crown property.

The judge said his speech could misinform the public by suggesting that King Vajiralongkorn may spend taxpayers' money for his personal use and use his influence to interfere in politics, which could tarnish his reputation.

The judge initially sentenced her to three years in prison, but reduced it to two years because of her cooperation in the trial. The law for defaming the monarchy, an offense known as lèse-majesté, carries a penalty of three to 15 years in prison. It is widely referred to as Article 112 due to its place in the Penal Code.

Chonthicha was later released on bail of 150,000 baht ($4,100). If bail had not been granted and she had been sent straight to prison, she would have been immediately removed from her seat in Parliament.

She told reporters she was not surprised by the verdict since the majority of the 112 charges resulted in convictions.

She said she would appeal, adding that she was happy to have been granted bail but wanted other political prisoners to have the same right.

A young activist accused of lèse-majesté died in custody earlier this month after leading a month-long hunger strike to protest the revocation of his bail in January.

Chonthicha and nine other defendants in the case were charged with other crimes, including unlawful assembly and violating an emergency order issued during the COVID-19 pandemic. All 10 were acquitted of those charges. Chonthicha was the only one accused of violating the lèse-majesté law.

Before becoming a politician, Chonthicha was an activist since she was a student. She became a prominent figure in the youth-dominated movement by confronting police during mass protests that demanded democratic reform of several powerful institutions, including the monarchy.

Chonthicha, 31, won a seat in last year's general election, a surprise victory for the progressive Move Forward party which shook Thai politics.

However, he failed to take power after the party was outmaneuvered by influential conservative forces, with members of the Senate refusing to endorse the party leader as prime minister.

Criticism of the Thai monarchy is considered taboo and insulting or defaming key members of the royal family is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

But student-led pro-democracy protests began to challenge this taboo in 2020, openly criticizing the monarchy. This lead to vigorous prosecution under what was previously a little-used law. Critics say the law is often used as a tool to suppress political dissent.

The advocacy group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights says that since the start of 2020, more than 270 people – including many student activists – have been charged with violating Article 112.

In December, another MP from the Move Forward party was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison over two posts she allegedly shared two years ago on the social media platform X, then known as Twitter. She appealed and was released on bail.