Founder of Thailand's royalist Yellow Shirt movement jailed for defaming monarchy

The founder of the royalist Yellow Shirt movement has been jailed for two years for defaming the monarchy by repeating offensive comments made by a political opponent.

A court of appeal in Bangkok found the media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, 65, guilty of lèse majesté for quoting remarks made to a crowd at a protest in 2008. He was freed on £10,000 bail pending an appeal.

Thailand’s lèse majesté law is the world’s harshest, with a jail term of up to 15 years. The court overturned a criminal court’s dismissal of the case against Sondhi on the grounds that he was only urging that the original speaker be prosecuted.

AP