Thailand pardons Singaporean royal insult prisoner
POSTED: 04 Jun 2013 8:46 PM
BANGKOK: Thailand on Tuesday pardoned a Singaporean who was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2009 under the kingdom's controversial royal defamation law, a lawyer said.
Wanchai Sae Tan, who has lived in Thailand for several decades, is expected to be deported because his residence permit has expired, said lawyer Arnon Nampa.
"He will be sent back to Singapore in the next few days," Arnon said.
Under the controversial lese majeste rules, anyone convicted of insulting the Thai king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.
Wanchai was reportedly arrested for handing out political leaflets deemed offensive to the monarchy.
The royal family is a highly sensitive subject in politically turbulent Thailand. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 85, is revered by many Thais but has been in hospital since September 2009.
Rights campaigners say the lese majeste law has been politicised, noting that many of those charged are linked to the "Red Shirt" protest movement, which is broadly loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Two months of mass street protests by the Red Shirts against the previous government in early 2010 triggered the kingdom's worst civil violence in decades with 90 people killed, mostly in a bloody military crackdown.
- AFP/al
