Thai court denies bail for US academic for alleged royal insult, group says
The court says the accused being a foreigner was a flight risk and the charges carried high punishment
[BANGKOK] A court in Thailand denied bail to an American academic based in the country accused of insulting the monarchy, a lawyers’ group said.
The Phitsanulok Provincial Court made the decision on Tuesday (Apr 8) in connection to Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in northern Phitsanulok province, who was charged with violating the country’s lèse-majesté law, the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said in a social media post.
The court denied bail, saying the accused being a foreigner was a flight risk and the charges carried high punishment. His bail application was also opposed by the investigator, the independent legal-aid group said. Chambers will be sent to the local prison today and his lawyers planned to appeal the order in the High Court on Wednesday, it said.
Thai police issued an arrest warrant for Chambers last week. The law also known as Article 112 of the penal code makes it a crime to defame, insult or threaten King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the queen, the heir apparent or the regent and those found guilty can face up to 15 years in prison.
Chambers has denied the charge. He has said a local army unit filed a complaint over comments he made about the powers of the prime minister and the monarchy during an international webinar last October. Chambers, who has lived in Thailand since 1993 and researches the nation’s military, said his response didn’t break the law.
After the webinar, Chambers said, a Thai-language newspaper published an article calling for him to be fired and a Thai security official wrote a letter to his university asking questions including about what he does and how much he makes.
While Thailand’s lèse-majesté law mostly is aimed at Thai citizens, authorities have occasionally brought charges against foreigners. In 2012, a US citizen received a royal pardon after serving part of a two and a half year prison sentence for translating and posting a banned book about the now-deceased King Bhumibol Adulyadej. BLOOMBERG
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