Activist gets jail term for defamation

Activist gets jail term for defamation

The Court of Appeal on Monday sentenced political activist Chanaphat na Nakhon to two months in prison for defaming Noppadon Pattama, a legal adviser to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The court upheld a 2009 lower court ruling that Chanaphat's remarks on May 12, 2007 about Mr Noppadon amounted to defamation.

The lower court sentenced Mr Chanaphat to three months behind bars, but commuted the sentence to two months because of his cooperation in the case.

Mr Chanaphat was absent for the court's decision. It was the fifth time he had failed to show up to acknowledge the ruling. The court also issued a warrant for his arrest.

Mr Noppadon has filed several other defamation lawsuits against Mr Chanaphat for similar remarks on other occasions.

For those offences, the court ordered punishments ranging from suspended jail terms to fines of between 20,000 and 50,000 baht.

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