King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit of Thailand
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's criminal court sentenced a 61-year-old man to 20 years in prison Wednesday for sending text messages deemed offensive to the country's queen.
The court found Amphon Tangnoppaku guilty on four counts under the country's lese majeste and computer crime laws, sentencing him to five years imprisonment for each charge.
Lese majeste is the crime of insulting a monarch, and Thailand's laws against it are the most severe in the world. Even repeating the details of an alleged offense is illegal.
The court said Amphon had sent offensive text messages in May 2010 to a personal secretary of then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Amphon denied the charges, saying he was unfamiliar with the text message function on mobile phones and did not know the recipient of the message.
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