Somyot Phrueksakasemsuk’s sentence reduced, injustice continues

Today,the Supreme Court reduced the sentence of activist Somyot from 10 tosix years. Somyot has been in jail since April 30, 2011, and was convicted in January2013 on charges of lèse-majesté under Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code[1]for allowing the publication of two satirical articles in the now-defunctmagazine Voice of Taksin, of which hewas the editor. The articles were authored by a third party and deemed by Thaiauthorities to have insulted the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

“The SupremeCourt’s decision to reduce Somyot’s jail sentence is too little, too late.Despite displaying a façade of compassion, the court should have made a justdecision and acquitted Somyot of a crime he did not commit,”said FIDH President Dimitris Christopoulos.

Somyot,55, is currently the longest-serving lèse-majesté detainee. He remainsincarcerated in the Bangkok Remand Prison, and will now have to serve theremaining two months and five days of his sentence, in addition to one moreyear, which stemmed from an earlier sentence for defamation in another case.The court justified the sentence reduction in consideration of Somyot’s age,the fact that he did not write the articles with lèse-majesté content, and thelengthy amount of time he had already spent in prison.

“We deplore today’s harsh sentence of Somyot,who should have never spent a day in jail under a draconian law that curtailsfreedom of opinion and expression. He should be released immediately andunconditionally,” said OMCT Secretary General GeraldStaberock.

Background information

Aformer labour rights activist and magazine editor, Somyot Phrueksakasemsuk wasarrested on April 30, 2011, five days after he launched a petition campaign tocollect 10,000 signatures required for a parliamentary review of Article 112 ofthe Criminal Code.

SeveralUnited Nations (UN) human rights monitoring bodies have voiced concern overSomyot’s deprivation of liberty. In an opinion issued on August 30, 2012, theUN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) affirmed that Somyot’s detentionwas arbitrary, and called on Thai authorities to release Somyot and award himadequate compensation.

OnJanuary 23, 2013, the Bangkok Criminal Court sentenced him to 10 years inprison on two counts of lèse-majesté.

OnSeptember 19, 2014, the Court of Appeals upheld the Bangkok Criminal Court’slèse-majesté conviction of Somyot. The Court of Appeals failed to notifySomyot, his lawyer, and his family that the hearing would take place on thatday. On November 19, 2014, Somyot filed an appeal to the Supreme Court againsthis conviction. Somyot unsuccessfully petitioned for bail 16 times - the lasttime being in November 2014.

Somyot’sconviction and detention do not comply with Thailand’s international legalobligations. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights (ICCPR), to which Thailand is a State party, states that everyone hasthe right to freedom of expression. This right includes “freedom to seek,receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds.”

Inits General Comment on Article 19, the UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR), thebody that monitors state parties’ compliance with the provisions of the ICCPR,affirmed that, “all public figures, including those exercising the highestpolitical authority such as heads of state and government, are legitimatelysubject to criticism and political opposition.” The CCPR specifically expressedconcern regarding lèse-majesté laws and stated that “imprisonment is never anappropriate penalty” for defamation.

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) wascreated in 1997 by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. Theobjective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu,the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

Formore information, please contact:

- FIDH: Audrey Couprie: +33143551412

- OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: +41228094939

[1] Article 112 of the Criminal Codestates that “whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, theHeir to the throne or the Regent shall be punished with imprisonment of threeto 15 years.”