Case

Case name

Sombat Boonngam-Anong : 112

Lèse-majesté Sedition

Name of persons / Name of Media

Sombat Boonngam-Anong

Status of Accused

On bail

Offense / order

Article 14 (3) Computer Related Crime Act, Article 112 Criminal Code

Summary

Sombat or Bor Kor Lai Jood was charged with Article 112 of Criminal Code and Section 14 (3) of Computer-related Crime Act because he shared a parodied picture on his Facebook account.

Basic information

Background of accused

Sombat Boonngam-Anong, “Nuling”, who is widely known by his internet pseudonym “Bor Kor Lai Jud”. He was a former committee chairman of the Mirror Foundation and served as a webmaster of many social service-related websites. Furthermore, he has been the leader of the Red Sunday group.

Sombat had been working in the field of social service. However, since the military seized the power in 2006, he distinctively expressed his opposing standpoint against the junta and became a leader of “Pollamuang Piwat Group” and "19 September Network Against Coup.” Besides, Sombat and his friends founded another anti-coup groups named "Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship " (DAAD) in order to oppose the coup and call for a new election.

In 2010, the DAAD changed its name to “United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship” (UDD) and organized several symbolic activities such as tying up red ribbons at the Ratchaprasong intersection in order to call for responsibilities from the military government over its operation, namely “tighten the area” around the protest which resulted in numerous casualties.

Legal Claims

Lèse-majesté, Sedition

Form of restriction on freedom

Charge filed
Type of media

Website / Blog
Province

Roi Et
Court

ศาลจังหวัดร้อยเอ็ด

Details of offence according to charge

5 January 2014, Wiput Sukprasert who used “I Pad” as his pseudonym has always filed charges of lèse-majesté against other people including Sombat. Wiput claimed that Sombat shared an ironic photo on his Facebook. The Court issued a warrant of arrest on 10 June 2014. In the first stage, Sombat denied the accusation.

Circumstance of arrest

After the National Intelligence Agency tracked down Sombat’s IP address that he used to post defying messages on the internet, Sombat was arrested during the night at his residence in Phan Thong District, Chonburi Province on June 5, 2014. The arrest was a joint operation between a chief of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) and the 21st Infantry Regiment officials. Afterwards, he was detained for questioning at the 21st Infantry Regiment.

Shortly before being arrested, he posted the message on his personal Facebook: "I’ve been arrested already.” After that, Sombat has been sent to unidentified military camp for further investigation.

Progress of case

1 July 2014

Sombat arrived at Roi Et police station at 5.00 AM. He was taken into interrogation and denied all charges. After being interrogated, Duangrudee Amornwiwutpanit, his wife, submitted 300,000 Baht for requesting provisional release to Roi Et Provincial Court. The court granted the provisional release with conditions; do not provoke and stage chaos, do not provoke general public to violate the law, and do not leave the country

12 May 2015

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights informed that Roi-Et provincial prosecutor postponed the prosecution order to 25 June 2015

22 June 2015

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights revealed that defendant asked the prosecutor for ordering the inquiry official to investigate more 6 witnesses. The prosecutor allowed and postponed to 26 August 2015

26 August 2015

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights informed that the prosecutor postponed the prosecution order to 29 September 2015

29 September 2015

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights informed that the prosecutor ordered the inquiry official to investigate more witnesses and postponed to declare the order to 2 December 2015

2 December 2015

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights informed that the prosecutor postponed the prosecution order to 4 February 2016

4 February 2016

The prosecutor postponed the prosecution order to 10 March 2016

10 March 2016

The prosecutor issued a non-prosecution order but passed on the case to Regional Public Prosecution

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Case

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