Three people were sentenced to 1 year in prison on Wednesday (12 October) for sharing a Facebook post criticizing the government’s alleged decision to buy a new satellite.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that the three were among a group of eleven people charged with violation of the Computer Crime Act for sharing posts made by the anti-government Facebook page KonthaiUK.
They were charged for sharing a picture of Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan with a caption claiming that the government is planning to buy a new satellite.
The Criminal Court on Wednesday (12 October) found them guilty of sharing false computer data which could damage national security and cause public panic and sentenced them to 1 year in prison. Their sentence was later reduced to 8 months because they gave useful testimony.
The Court found them guilty on the grounds that, at the time the post was made, there was no news report that the government was planning to buy a new satellite worth 91,000 million baht for the purposes of surveillance, so the information in the post was false.
It also said that, even though the three defendants said they wanted to share the post to keep the government in check or to create a public discussion, such things should be based on facts, and they chose to share the post even though they knew it was false
Their action therefore caused misunderstanding and public panic, and damaged national security by causing public panic, affecting people’s daily lives, causing distrust among foreign investors, and implying that the government is corrupt.
However, several online news outlets reported in June 2018 that the Ministry of Defence was planning to purchase 9.12 million-baht worth of reconnaissance satellites following a statement criticizing the purchase by Thailand’s complainer-in-chief and Secretary-General of the Association to Protect the Thai Constitution (APTC) Srisuwan Janya. The statement said that the purchase would be unconstitutional as it violates people’s privacy.
Voice Online and Matichon Online reported on 7 June 2018 that in response to Srisuwan’s statement, Air Chief Marshal Preecha Pradabmook, Director-General of the Defence Technology Institute, said that the government has not purchased the satellites, but that the Institute had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with THEIA Group, the American manufacturer of the satellites, to conduct a joint research and development project into the satellites.
Matichon Online on 6 June 2018 also reported Gen Prawit as saying that the satellites were normal satellites, but that plans were still being discussed.
Workpoint Today reported on 7 June 2018 that Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong, then Deputy Prime Minister, had tasked the Ministry of Justice with pressing charges against Srisuwan for giving false information to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), after Srisuwan filed a petition calling for the NACC to investigate Air Chief Marshal Prajin and Gen Porpol Maneerin over the satellite project, as well as for damaging Gen Prawit’s duty as Deputy Prime Minister and causing public confusion around the THEIA satellite project.
In June 2018, Pol Maj Gen Surachet Hakpal, then Commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau, led squads of officers to arrest at least 31 people for sharing KonthaiUK’s posts and charged them with violation of the Computer Crime Act.
In June 2020, the Court dismissed the charges against 10 people, who were charged for sharing a post claiming that Gen Prayut had gone to the UK to seek asylum.
In August 2020, 11 other people who were charged for sharing KonthaiUK’s posts and confessed were found guilty and sentenced to 1 year in prison and a fine of 20,000 baht, but their prison sentence was suspended.
The three people sentenced to prison on Wednesday (12 October) were later granted bail in order to appeal their case. Meanwhile, the Court dismissed the charges against 8 other people charged for sharing other posts from the page.
TLHR noted that defendants in these cases came from several provinces, including Chiang Rai, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Roi Et, Narathiwat, and Bueng Kan. Many were also working class, making the cost of traveling to Bangkok for court hearings and the loss of working time a great burden for them, even though they did not write the posts themselves and only shared them. – Prachatai English
