Ancha, a Thai woman, was sentenced to 43 years in prison for lese majesty in January 2021. -

AP / SIPA

Thailand just broke a new record, and it's not exactly glorious.

A Thai national was sentenced Tuesday, January 19 to 43 years in prison for insulting the royal family.

According to experts, this is the heaviest sentence ever recorded in the country for the crime of lese majesté.

Ancha, the defendant, has been found guilty of 29 counts according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), an organization which fights against human rights violations in the kingdom and which closely follows the trials for lèse majesté.

The former official was "sentenced to three years for each," said the NGO.

# Thailand 🇹🇭 had stopped using its lese majesty law for about two years, but today a court sentenced a 65-year-old woman to over 43 years in prison, the harshest sentence ever. today 📝 @Reuters


https://t.co/PnrEQukonS pic.twitter.com/QmzLpCtCl8

- AsiaNews (@AsiaNews_FR) January 19, 2021

Hostile audio messages

In total, she therefore had to be sentenced to 87 years in prison.

But the 65-year-old woman admitted to posting audio messages hostile to the monarchy on social media and "the court cut the sentence in half", that is, 43 years and 100 days.

Ancha, whose name has not been released, was arrested in 2015 and then detained for three years because of her proximity to podcaster DJ Banpodj, known for his harsh criticism of the political regime.

Before his conviction, the most important sentence dated back to 2017, when a man was sentenced to thirty-five years for comments made on Facebook.

40 activists indicted since the start of the movement

The crime of lese majesté is regulated by article 112 of the Criminal Code in Thailand.

It is one of the most severe in the world and its use has intensified since the launch of a pro-democracy movement last July.

More than 40 activists have been indicted under the lese majesté law since mid-July.

They had participated in demonstrations demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, the rewriting of the constitution and the reform of the monarchy.

An outdated law

For political analyst Titipol Phakdeewanich, from the University of Ubon Ratchathani, this heavy sentence could have "political motivations".

It could in particular aim to discourage students who have been pounding the pavement for months despite the repression of the police and ultraroyalists.

But Titipol Phakdeewanich considers on the contrary that such a sanction "can destroy the reputation of the institution of the monarchy at both national and international level".

The scale of the social movement would, according to him, be proof that the law of lese-majesté "no longer works as the government wishes".

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