People’s party MP Chonthicha Jaengrew was sentenced today to two years and eight months in prison after she was found guilty of committing lèse majesté by the Criminal Court.
The charge was related to the content of her Facebook post on November 3rd, 2020, criticising the spending of Bureau of the Royal Household, which was deemed by the court to have defamed the monarchy.
After her conviction, Chonthicha’s lawyer applied for bail to the Appeals Court, which is expected to issue an order this afternoon.
If the court rejects the bail application, the MP will be sent to prison to serve her time and, as a consequence, she will lose her parliamentary status.
Before joining the People’s party, Chonthicha had been a pro-democracy campaigner and a prominent student activist for civil and political rights since the 2014 military coup. She has previously been detained on several occasions for standing up to the junta and for involvement in anti-government protests.
