‘Sichon’ : Sedition charge for posting picture of King Rama 9th

The second prosecution witness was ‘Aod’ defendant’s father. 

 

 
‘Aod’ testified that when this situation happened, ‘Sichon’ was 29 years old. ‘Sichon’ graduated from a vocational college, but he did not study further because he wanted to work. ‘Sichon’ applied for job and worked for two times. ‘Aod’ testified it was odd that his son just worked in a short time, so he asked Sichon’s supervisor at the second workplace. He found out that ‘Sichon’ had mental illness. He talked with other people unmannerly, and he liked to talk about religion unstoppably. After he quitted from the second workplace, ‘Sichon’ did not work and stayed at home. ‘Aod’ testified that for Sichon’s behavior, while staying home, he kept talking about religion unstoppably. ‘Sichon’ talked about how bad religion was, and he cannot argue with Sichon. Also, ‘Sichon’ always said that he was beyond the religion, and he was a buddhist saint. According to Aod’s opinion, he viewed that ‘Sichon’ had mental illness.      
 

 

‘Aod’ testified that in 2015, he took ‘Sichon’ to Deacha hospital. That hospital had no psychiatrist, but a doctor wrote a prescription and said that ‘Sichon’ was schizophrenic. When he stayed home, ‘Sichon’ had insomnia and was scared that somebody would attack him. One year later, he thought that he would take ‘Sichon’ to treat with a psychiatrist, but ‘Sichon’ ran away. He had no idea where ‘Sichon’ was. All this time, he and ‘Sichon’ will contact through mobile phone. 

 

‘Aod’ testified that personally, he did not use social media and never looked on Sichon’s Facebook account. ‘Aod’ testified that he installed 3BB internet for ‘Sichon’ because he wanted ‘Sichon’ to sell products on online. Later on, the police came to Sichon’s house, but he and ‘Sichon’ were not at home. Only his nephew waited at home.  ‘Aod’ testified that he thought ‘Sichon’ was not guilty. The prosecutor gave ‘Aod’ document as an evidence and asked how he felt.

 

‘Aod’ looked document and answered that he was shocked because in the past, he always told ‘Sichon’ that he must not involve with the monarchy because his surname and Sichon’s surname were given by His Majesty. Also, his family and he were loyal to the Royal institution always. Therefore, he believed that ‘Sichon’ posted message due to other reasons.
 

Cross-examination
 

 

The lawyer asked about the family. ‘Aod’ answered that ‘Sichon’ was  his son with his ex-wife. They divorced since ‘Sichon’ was young. ‘Sichon’ thus was under his care always. ‘Sichon’ had few friends and hardly contacted with anyone. He usually stayed alone and obsessed with the internet. The lawyer asked ‘Aod’ to tell about Sichon’s symptom. ‘Aod’ answered that ‘Sichon’ was scared of people and had insomnia, and sometime, he will walk around his house for one or two hours. When he told him to stop, he did not stop and said he cannot. He observed that whenever the weather changed, ‘Sichon’ would behave unusual, or sometimes, he will look normal.

 

 

The lawyer showed a book and asked that ‘Sichon’ wrote a book regarding the religion or not.  ‘Aod’ said yes. He explained that ‘Sichon’ was obsessed with religion and though that he was the Buddhist saint. Sometime, he thought that he was Buddha. The lawyer asked that on 5 April 2016, while searching in the house, did ‘sichon’ run away earlier or not. ‘Aod’ said yes. The lawyer asked that in the first place, did the investigator informed him what Section that ‘Sichon violated. ‘Aod’ answered that the investigator said that it was lese majeste charge or Section 112 of Criminal Code.  
 

 

The lawyer asked that while ‘Sichon’ was detained, did his symptoms appear or not. ‘Aod’ said yes and explained that ‘Sichon had suffered from mental illness, and he was admitted to hospital of the correctional institution. Later on, ‘Sichon was allowed to bail out. He took ‘Sichon’ to check at Vichaiyut Hospital. The doctor said that ‘Sichon’ had mental illness and should stay home, and he was sent to receive treatment at  Chaophraya Hospital. Nowadays, ‘Sichon’ still recieve treatment there.
 

 

Re-direct examination
 

 

The prosecutor asked that did medical document identify what kind of mental illness. ‘Aod’ answered that it was delusional disorder, but he did not ask further about its symptom. ‘Aod’ testified that during the first phase of treatment, a doctor had to tie up his hands and feet with bed. ‘Sichon’ was in the most severe condition that he has ever seen.       
 

At 11.00 a.m. the Court finished the witness examination. The Court called the prosecutor and the lawyer to talk further. The Court told the lawyer that to not prosecute by 112 Section did not mean that the defendant did not violate Section 112 of Criminal Code. However, there was a policy that there would no prosecution by using this Section. For this case, the lawyer should not defend by sitting on fences because the law and the policy was irrelevant. At that time, the prosecutor called ‘Aod’ and asked that did he have anything to tell. ‘Aod’ stood in front of the judge and said that he had talked with the lawyer previously. The judge asked that if so, he would deny all charge or not. The lawyer said yes.

 

 

The Court asked the prosecutor that the post was liked or shared or not. The prosecutor said no. The Court asked that in Sichon’s Facebook account had a lot of friends or not. the prosecutor answered that there were 1,107 friends. After that, the Court allowed the prosecutor to bring the next witness to testify.