Royal Defamation Trial For Twitter User Postponed

Screenshot of the @ssj_2475 Twitter account.
Screenshot of the @ssj_2475 Twitter account.

BANGKOK — The trial for a 20-year-old man accused of insulting the monarchy was postponed on Thursday, his attorney said.

Phavinee Chumsri, the man’s lawyer, said the court postponed his trial because public prosecutors have not yet issued an indictment against him for an unspecified reason. The deferral came after a widespread support on Twitter, where netizens used hashtag #AnonymousMustComeHome to express their solidarity with the man.

The defendant was charged with cybercrime offense, which bans disseminating information that threatened “national security.”

The man, identified by his pseudonym “Niranam” (anonymous in Thai), was arrested in February for violating the Computer Crime Act after he posted a series of posts critical of the Royal Family on his Twitter account @ssj_2475.

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Although the man was later freed from prison after multiple attempts to post for bail, his case is still ongoing and he may have to appear in court soon, Phavinee said.

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Insulting the monarchy is punishable under several laws, including the Article 112 of the Criminal Codes and the Computer Crime Act.

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