A Thai court on Tuesday sentenced a 65-year-old woman to more than 43 years in jail for sharing online posts criticising the royal family, her lawyer said, the country’s harshest ever sentence for insulting the monarchy.
Anchan Preelert pled guilty to 29 separate violations of sharing and posting clips on YouTube and Facebook between 2014 and 2015, her lawyer, Pawinee Chumsri, said.
Anchan was initially sentenced to 87 years but because she had acknowledged her violations the court halved this, the lawyer said. “This is the highest prison sentence ever in a lese majeste case,” said Pawinee, who is from the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group. Anchan, who could not be reached for comment, can appeal the sentence.