Thai webmaster gets 13 years in prison for lese-majesty

Mar 15, 2011, 11:14 GMT

Bangkok - A Thai court on Tuesday sentenced a website operator to 13 years in prison for publishing material deemed insulting to the monarchy.

Bangkok Criminal Court found Thatawut Taweewarodomkul, 38, guilty of lese-majesty for items he published in March last year on his website.

Thatawut, whose online pseudonym was Red Eagle, was a supporter of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, that led mass protests against the government that started on March 12 last year and were finally suppressed on May 19.

The so-called red shirts were demanding Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve parliament and hold new elections.

The protests led to bloody street battles that left 91 dead, including 11 police and military personnel.

The red shirts' rhetoric was usually radical by Thai standards, with its leaders calling for a people's revolution and class war against the establishment, which includes the monarchy.

Thailand has one of the world's strictest lese-majesty laws. Public criticism or mockery of the king and royal family can lead to years in jail, although the law has rarely been enforced in the past and royal amnesties are often granted to those found guilty.

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