A man by the name of Mongkol Thirakot received the record sentence under Thailand’s strict lese-majesty laws for posts on Facebook, according to a legal rights group.
He was first sentenced to 28 years by a lower criminal court, but an appeal court in Chiang Rai found him guilty of 11 more counts.
“The appeal court sentenced Mongkol Thirakot to 22 years for 112 over his 27 Facebook posts, in addition to the 28-year sentence already passed by the preliminary court. His total jail sentence is 50 years,” Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said in a statement.
According to TLHR, the sentence was the longest handed down for lese-majesty, the law which is meant to shield King Vajiralongkorn and his family from criticism. A woman received a sentence of 43 years in 2021.
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