A Thai court sentenced a politician from the progressive Move Forward Party to six years in prison on royal disrespect charges on Wednesday.
Rukchanok Srinork was charged with lese majeste and violating the Computer Crimes Act after reposting two statements on X, formerly Twitter.
The MFP gained the most seats in the May general election, but it was unable to form a government due to conservative opposition to its vow to alter the kingdom’s harsh royal defamation laws.
“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 AFP.
The court later issued a statement confirming the charges and sentence.
The court also announced it had granted Rakchanok, 29, bail with a 500,000 baht ($14,000) security.
Rukchanok rose to notoriety while campaigning for the May election on a bike through Bangkok’s congested streets.
Thailand has some of the harshest lese-majeste legislation in the world, safeguarding King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family from criticism — but critics claim it has been weaponized to crush opposition.
Rights groups have also criticized the Computer Crimes Act for granting authorities unnecessarily broad powers to limit free expression.
Since the youth-led pro-democracy street movements in 2020, there has been an increase in charges under the legislation, known in Thailand as “112” after the relevant portion of the criminal code.
Authorities have charged over 250 activists with 112 counts, and several of the key leaders, including Anon Numpa, a human rights lawyer who previously represented Rukchanok, have been imprisoned.