Andrew Marshall (AKA Zenjournalist) has
posted contents of 4 SMS messages in the Uncle SMS case.
The
contents were surprising. Based on what BP had heard and all reports,
previously there was only mention that the SMS messages were offensive or
insulting. See below:
AFP:
A
THAI court yesterday sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for sending text
messages deemed insulting to the monarch.
The Bangkok Post:
The
Criminal Court sentenced 61-year-old Ampon Tangnoppakul to 20 years in jail on
Wednesday after finding him guilty of lese majeste and computer crimes.
…
He
was charged with sending four short messages with offensive content
in May last year to the personal secretary of then prime minister Abhisit
Vejjajiva.
The
Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced Ampon Tangnopakul, 61, to serve 20 years
in jail after finding him guilty of four counts of texting offensive remarks
against Her Majesty the Queen in May 2010.
BP: These were the four
articles referred to in BP’s post at the
time of the jailing.* Lese majeste covers insults, defamation,
and threats.
Hence,
BP understood at the time that the judgment was only in relation to insulting
or defamatory comments. However, two of the 4 SMS messages go beyond
insulting and defamatory comments. The 3rd SMS states “…[We] must stamp on
their faces with our heels” (….ต้องเอาส้นตีนเหยียบหน้ามัน). The 4th SMS states
“Please tell …. and all of their children, you’ll all die” (ช่วยบอก…และลูกหลานมันทุกๆ คนต้องตาย).
Lese
majeste covers
insults, defamatory statements, and threats. However, as pointed out inthis
post, there is clear difference between a threat (which is a criminal
offence in most, if not all, jurisdictions) and insults and defamatory
statements (which in many countries is not a criminal offence or where it is
then the punishment is usually a light sentence, suspended sentence, or a fine
– most lese majeste cases are about insults and defamatory
statements).
Now, BP
views the contents of the SMS messages as constituting a threat. The court
judgment in the Uncle SMS case also deems it to be a threat.
Not all
instances of threats are prosecuted although threats against a Head of State
would certainly be investigated, but if the threat was not deemed as credible
or there was not an actual threat, the person may not be prosecuted – see here and here for
US examples.
This is
an issue of prosecutorial discretion and if** the person is prosecuted the
sentence would be light. Some cases in the US have resulted in
a jail sentence of less than 1 year for threatening to kill Obama although
other cases have resulted in 2-3 years in jail. Hence, a 20-year sentence is
very severe, but then the question is of proportionality of the sentence
and not whether the person should have been jailed in the first place.
*Although,
reading dozens of different articles, BP can find one instance of mention
of threats. Bloomberg:
The
messages “indicated intent to harm and defamation against Her
Majesty that would trigger hatred,” the court said. “All the messages were
untrue.”
*Added the word “if” –
should have been in the original
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