The Supreme Court has ruled against a former student over a social media post about the late King Bhumibol, asserting that the royal defamation law also protects deceased kings.
A 25-year-old Jaiko, who used the pseudonym Jai, was charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for tweeting a picture of the late King Bhumibol and the message “You don’t have to remember who I am. Just remember what I did,” along with a hashtag about the late King.
The complaint against her was filed by Aree Jiworarak, who was acting for the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. Jaiko was indicted in November 2021, after the public prosecutor ruled that her tweet meant that King Bhumibol was a murderer, and that monarchs are a waste or should not exist in Thai society.
She was sentenced to three years in prison. However, since Jai was only 19 years old in 2020 when the tweet was made, the Court reduced her sentence to two years.
The Appeal Court later upheld the initial verdict, sentencing her to two years in prison, concluding that her actions affected the reigning King Vajiralongkorn, son of the late King.
On Thursday (15 October), the Supreme Court sentenced her to two years in prison without suspension.
The royal defamation or lèse majesté law contains only two lines beginning with “Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-Apparent or the Regent, shall be punished…” However, the Supreme Court insisted that the provision does not explicitly limit its protection to only the current King.
The Court concluded that although late King Bhumibol has passed away, Jaiko’s actions also affected King Vajiralongkorn, citing the relations between the current King and his predecessor through lineage.
The Court said her two-year prison term was considered the minimum sentence. Given that she committed a serious offence, she should not receive a suspended sentence.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, Jaiko was immediately transferred to the Central Women’s Correctional Institution.
The latest ruling highlights a Supreme Court trend establishing a new standard in royal defamation cases which involve deceased kings. Last month, the Supreme Court ruled in another royal defamation case against two pro-democracy activists, saying that the law covers past kings.