The Criminal Court convicted Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, editor of Voice of Taksin, on two counts of lese majeste and sent him to prison for 11 years on Wednesday.
Photos by Achara Ashayagachat
He was sentenced to five years on each of the two charges, and the court cancelled the suspension of a previous one-year sentence - for a total of 11 years in prison, a cumulative sentence.
The severity of the sentence caught both Somyot and his family - his wife and son - totally by suprise, as it was harsher than previous rulings in other lese majeste cases, which usually were based on the minimum sentence of three years.
Karom Polpornklang, the defence lawyer, said his client would appeal against the verdict.
Right after the 50-minute-long reading of the judgement some people in the gallery burst into tears, hugging each other.
Many people went up to Somyot, shaking his hands and pouring out words of support and solidarity for him.
The courtroom was packed for reading of the judgement with about 200 people from the diplomatic community, civil society and the media, along with members of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) critical of the way lese majeste laws are applied
The four-judge panel emerged 90-minute later than initially scheduled and spent most of the time reading the two articles subject to the charge, published in February and March 2010 in the magazine in a column called "Kom Khwam Kid" written under the pseudonym Jit Polachan.
The judges rebutted the arguments and opinions given by seven defence witnesses but put weight on prosecution witnesses, including Tongthong Chandrangsu, the Prime Minister's Office permanent secretary, security officers from the Internal Security Operating Command (Isoc), and librarians at the National Library of Thailand.
Citing the prosecution witnesses, the court said anyone reading the two articles would easily understand that they referred to His Majesty the King.
The court did not refer to defence arguments that since the writer, revealed to the court as Jakrapob Penkair, was not a defendant in the case, the editor of the magazine should also not be convicted.
Also the defence arguments that Somyot was accused in the case because he was a dissident, active against the government of the day, and that the arrest was made when the political atmosphere was highly volatile.
The defendant was known to express opinions opposite those the then government and he was accused of being part of a plan to topple the monarchy - a case which was later dropped as the Department of Special Investigation found there was not enough evidence to pursue it.
Somyot said before the court's decision was delivered that he hoped he would be able to peacefully go back to his family after decades of working for other people.
"After some rest and rejoiciong with my family, I will continue to work for the basic rights of all types of detainees, particularly on issues of bail," said Somyot.
The court said Somyot was given a one-year suspended jail term in 2009 but he had again committed the crime of defaming the royal instution and threatening and insulting the monarchy, so his previous prison term was added to the five-year sentence for each of the two fresh offences he committed by publishing the two articles. In total, he was sentenced to 11 years.
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Human Rights Watch said the conviction of Somyot and the harsh 11-year sentence for "insulting the monarchy" would further chill freedom of expression in Thailand.
"The courts seem to have adopted the role of chief protector of the monarchy at the expense of the right of free expression," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The court's ruling appears to be more about Somyot’s strong support for amending the lese majeste law than about any harm incurred by the monarchy.
"The political nature of the prosecution was demonstrated by the way Somyot was mistreated in pretrial detention for 20 months," Mr Adams said. "His guilty verdict and sentence should be viewed as a sign that Thailand's deep political schisms are far from healed."
Clean Clothes Campaign, the Free Somyot Campaign and the Thai Labour Campaign also deplored Somyot's conviction, saying he is a prisoner of conscience and was convicted solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression and opinion, and the right to participate in public life.
They agreed the judgement is a serious blow to the rule of law in Thailand and would further contribute to self-censorship. The ruling was a violation of international human rights law, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Thailand had ratified.