A woman was sentenced to one year and six months in prison yesterday (Wednesday), after she was found guilty by the Criminal Court of lèse majesté and violating the Computer Crime Act.

Warunee Weerasak was accused of posting a “doctored” image on social media, on June 21^st last year, of an event at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, at which His Majesty the King was performing a ceremony to change the costume of the Emerald Buddha statue.

The court ruled that the defendant’s tampering with the image of the Royal event had subjected the monarchy to disgrace, insult and ridicule. The court also said that her conduct was inappropriate and disrespectful to the Emerald Buddha statue, which is revered by many Thai people.

Warunee was given three years in prison on the lèse majesté charge, but the sentence was commuted to 18 months because of her guilty plea. 

The court, however, rejected her application for a suspended jail term citing mental health problems, saying that she was fully aware of what she was doing when she committed the offences.