Thai court rules election winners must stop trying to change royal insults law

Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that the progressive Move Forward party must cease advocating amending the law on royal defamation.

BANGKOK — Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that the progressive Move Forward party must cease advocating amending the law on royal defamation, a decision that leaves the party vulnerable to being dissolved.

The court’s nine judges deemed it unconstitutional to advocate a change in Article 112 in the country’s Criminal Code — also known as the lèse-majesté law — which protects the royal institution from criticism by imposing severe penalties on those found to violate it, including up to 15 years in jail per offense.

Critics say the law is often wielded as a tool to quash political dissent. Student-led pro-democracy protests beginning in 2020 openly criticized the monarchy, previously a taboo subject, leading to vigorous prosecutions under the law.

Since those protests, more than 260 people have been charged with the offense, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The Move Forward party came in first in the 2023 general election, campaigning heavily on making an effort to amend Article 112, along with other democratic reforms. The win suggested Thai voters were ready for change after nearly a decade of military-controlled government.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/thailand-move-forward-royal-insults-law-rcna136691

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