A woman jailed for more than eight years, 43 years in all, for distributing critical audio recordings of Thailand’s king.
Thailand is preparing to release Anchan Prelert, 69, who was sentenced to 43 years in prison for insulting the monarchy on Wednesday, after more than eight years behind bars, thanks to a series of royal pardons. Ancan Prelert was found guilty in 2021 of posting and distributing audio recordings of an underground radio host containing slanderous statements about the king. The total number of counts was 29. For each violation of Article 112 of the Criminal Code, she was sentenced to three years in prison, totaling 87 years.
The guilty plea reduced the sentence by half, to 43 years and six months. At the time, it was the harshest lese majeste sentence in Thai history, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). The military arrested Anchan in January 2015 on orders from the National Council for Peace and Order, the junta led by General Prayuth Chan-ocha. She spent the next three years and nine months in detention, first in a military camp and then in the Central Women’s Correctional Institution after her case was transferred to a civilian court.
In November 2018, Anchan was released on bail while awaiting trial. The trial only ended in January 2021, when she was remanded in custody. In total, her lawyers claim she spent eight years and four months in prison. The first reduction in sentence was in July 2021, as part of a royal pardon, which reduced the sentence by a third.
In December 2021, the sentence was cut by half again, and by a quarter this month. According to TLHR’s calculations, the actual remaining sentence is two years, seven months, and 20 days. The criteria for release in this case were the prisoner’s age (at least 60 years) and the remaining term of imprisonment (no more than three years). Anchan’s release was made possible by meeting these requirements and by the monarch’s mercy. After her release on Wednesday, Anchan will undergo a two-week programme to adapt to life outside prison before being allowed to return home. The programme is designed to ease the transition back to everyday life after a long period of incarceration.
In 2023, after Anchan was detained, she was dismissed from government service for serious disciplinary violations. She continues to challenge the decision, which deprived her of her pension for nearly 40 years of government service. Article 112 of Thailand’s Penal Code, commonly referred to as the lese majeste law, imposes severe penalties for slandering, insulting, or threatening the king, queen, heir apparent, or regent. International human rights groups have criticized the law as restricting freedom of speech. In recent years, there has been a trend toward an increase in lese majeste cases and harsher sentences.
Anchan Prelert’s case has sparked controversy in the public eye and drawn attention to the issue of how lese majeste laws are enforced in Thailand. Her release, though conditional on a royal pardon, highlights the need to review the law and ease penalties for criticizing the monarchy.
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