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Case
Case name
Bannpodj's Network
Lèse-majesté
Name of persons / Name of Media
"Phaopan"
Case status
คำอธิบายสถานะคดี ภาษาอังกฤษ
Judgment / End of trial
Status of Accused
Sentenced to prison
Offense / order
Article 14 (3) Computer Related Crime Act, Article 112 Criminal Code
Summary
Hassadin was arrested under article 112 of the Criminal Code for making a video clip of a political analysis program where part of the content deemed to be Lese Majeste. Apart from Hassadin, at least 9 individuals were arrested for shared the clip on the internet, other 2 were charge for supported the publicized of video clip.
The military court sentenced 8 of them for 10 years and reduced to 5 years in prison. While Saifon and 'Saichon' was sentenced to 6 years and reduced to 3 years in prison as supporters.
Basic information
Background of accused
“Paopan” the 1st defendant, aged 65 when arrested, accused of being the admin of Facebook page called Banpodj Thailand Clips
“Phana” the 2nd defendant, aged 46 when arrested, color seller and dealer.
“Taweesin” the 3rd defendant, aged 43 when arrested, fortune teller, and a graduate from the Faculty of Political Science at Ramkhamhaeng University
“Kwanjai” the 4th defendant, age 41 when arrested, housewife
“Saichon” the 5th defendant, age 48 when arrested, former motorcycle taxi driver at the street where Hasdin’s house locates. former courier at a company for more than ten years
Saifon the 6th defendant, bank clerk when arrested, lived with Hasdin for more than ten years
Hassadin the 7th defendant, 64 when arrested, former business owner, unemployed when arrested
Kornaruth 8th defendant, high-positioned employee at a private company, a bachelor degree of chemical engineering and a master’s degree from the Faculty of Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University, a member of Facebook page called “Kwam-Jing Khao-Jai Ngai Mue Khon-pob” (translated as the truth is easy to understand once discovered)
Thiprachaya the 9th defendant, 44 when arrested, former employee of the accounting sector at a private company, a graduate from the Faculty of Economics at Ramkhamhaeng University, a master’s degree in Economics at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, member of Facebook page “Kwan-Jing Khao-Jai Ngai Mue Khon-pob”
Nongnute 10th defendant, cloth retailer at Central Rama 3, member of Facebook page “Kwan-Jing Khao-Jai Ngai Mue Khon-pob”
Witthaya the 11th defendant, 35 when arrested, single, employee at a transportation company in Lamphun province
Kornwan the 12th defendant, 46 when arrested, private business owner, a high school graduate
Legal Claims
Lèse-majesté
-
Form of restriction on freedom
Charge filed
-
Type of media
Social Network
-
Province
Bangkok
-
Court
Bangkok Military Court
-
Black case
คำอธิบายคดีดำ ภาษาอังกฤษ
No: 125 ก./2558 -
Red case
คำอธิบายดคีแดง ภาษาอังกฤษ
No: 177 ก./2558 Date: 2015-07-14
Details of offence according to charge
The military prosecutor’s complaint addressed that during 2010 and 28 January 2015, Hasdin, the 7th defendant, with other defendants have committed the offence together, which could be implied as a network, by recording an audio clip with pseudonym of Banpodj and uploading the file to mediafire.com. The content of the clip deem to be an insults, defamation, or threatening to the King and is the act of importing computer data into the computer system which is offensive to national security.
Afterwards, "Paopan", "Phana", "Taweesin", "Kwanjai", Kornaruth, Thiprachaya, Nongnute, Witthaya, and Kornwan, the 1st-4th and 8th-12th defendants who were aware of the illegal content of the clip, downloaded it and reuploaded to mediafire.com, Facebook, and OKTHAI.com, which are accessible to the public. The said audio clip appeared in the internet until January 28th, 2015 when police officer found it.
"Saichon", the 5th defendant, was in charge of delivering CDs, of Hasdin’s-7th defendant, which contains the audio file to the network, to further spread the clip. Saiphon, the 6th defendant, facilitated her niece to open a new bank account at Bangkok Bank to deposit money from supporters and to withdraw money for Hasdin, the 7th defendant, to fund further audio clips.
The defendants were charged with article 112 and Section 14 of the Computer Crime Act 2007. But for "Saichon", the 5th defendant. Saiphon, the 6th defendant, were charged with supporting the acts and will be punished by two-thirds of the offender.
Circumstance of arrest
On January 25, 2015, around 2 pm, “Kwanjai,” the 4th defendant, was arrested at her house in Bang Sao Thong district, by 6-7 armed military officers, two cars of female military officers, and one car of TCSD officers.
The officers took 14 of her electronic devices including computers and mobile phones. Afterwards, “Kwanjai” was put into the car and driven to be interrogated, blindfolded and hooded with a white sac during the way. “Kwanjai” was detained in the darkroom for 5 days for interrogation.
On the same day, “Paopan,” the 1st defendant, was arrested and detained with military officer for 7 days.
After that, on January 28th, 2015, around 10am, more than 10 of police and military officers came to the house of 2nd defendant, “Phana”. The officer took his computer and mobile phone before taking him to the 11th Military Circle.
On January 29th, 2015, “Taweesin,” the 3rd defendant, was arrested at his house. Afterwards, on February 2nd, 2015, before midnight, police officer waited for "Saichon", the 5th defendant, at his apartment. When he returned home from his work, the police officer identified themselves and arrested him. "Saichon" was hooded and blindfolded, put in a van, and driven to be detained at one place for interrogation.
On February 4th, 2015, 4 non-uniformed military officer arrested Saiphon, the 6th defendant, at her office and put her into a Fortuner and drove her, during which time blindfolded and hooded, to one place to be detained for 3 nights for interrogation.
On February 6th, 2015, Matichon Online reported that joint officers searched a house suspected as Hasdin’s, the 7th defendant, at Sukhumvit 101, during that time the house was empty. The officers claimed to find film production equipment/computers, financial documents/network documents, and many CDs.
On February 9th, 2015, according to Matichon Online, the Royal Thai Police has reportedly showed photos and warrant of arrest of Hasdin, while offered a reward of 200,000 baht for arrest or information that could lead to arrest of Hassadin.
PostToday Online afterwards reported that around 8 pm, TCSD and military officers together successfully arrested Hassadin, suspected as "Banpodj", at a hotel in Makkasan area.
On February 18th, 2015, around 8 am, 40 officers of uniformed armed military, police, and TCSD took Thiprachaya, the 9th defendant, from her office in Lam Luk Ka district, and seized her company computer.
Afterwards, officers took her to her place in Lam Luk Ka area to search further. They seized her Sony mobile phone, one Samsung Galaxy Note 2, and one iPad.
Later Thiparachaya was interrogated and detained in one place for 2 nights, during which time she was jailed in a barred room alone with 4 soldiers monitoring.
On the same day, around 11 am, Nongnute, the 10th defendant, went to work at the shopping mall as usual. But she got a call from Human Resource manager to meet up with a firm insist to bring her mobile phone together with her. Nongnute met the manager and found more than 10 armed police and military officers waiting for her.
The officers took Nongnute to her house for further search, and seized her PC, internet service receipt, and mobile phone. After the search, Nongnute was taken to 11th Military Circle for interrogation and later detained elsewhere.
On the same day, non-uniformed black-jacketed officers arrest Kornaruth, the 8th defendant, at the office, seized 6 phones and 1 CPU, then took Kornaruth on Fortuner to the military camp for interrogation and detained him for 2 nights.
Later on March 17th, 2015, police officer from TCSD arrested Witthaya, the 11th defendant, at his apartment in Lamphun province. His mobile phone and tablet were seized, along with his passwords of email and Facebook account exposed. Then the officers took Witthaya to Lamphun town hall, moved him to Kawila camp in Chiang Mai, 33rd Military Circle, for one night, and transferred him to 1st Infantry Battalion, 3rd Military Circle in Bangkok.
On March 23th, 2015, around 10 am, 2-3 cars of uniformed and non-uniformed police and military officers drove to the place of 12th defendant, Kornwan, to make an arrest, then seized her iPad and Samsung mobile phone. Later, she was driven to military camp in GMC for interrogation and detention.
Progress of case
25 January 2015
“Kwanjai”, the 4th defendant and "Phaopan", the 1st defendant were arrested.
28 January 2015
"Phana", the 2nd defendant was arrested.
29 January 2015
"Taweesin", the 3rd defendant was arrested.
2 February 2015
The Military Court authorized pre-trial detention order for the inquiry officials to detain "Phaopan", “Kwanjai” "Phana" and "Taweesin" for 12 days. "Saichon" the 5th defendant was arrested in the same day.
4 February 2015
Saifon the 6th defendant was arrested.
7 February 2015
The military officials brought "Saichon" and Saifon to the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) for the intorogation. Later they were sent to the Military Court where pre-trial detention order will be authorized.
10 February 2015
Hassadin the 7th defendant was arrested in a hotel in Rama 9 area.
11 February 2015
Military officials brought Hassadin to the TCSD for further intoragation. Hassadin pleaded guilty, he was then taken to the Military Court in the same day.
18 February 2015
Kornaruth, the 8th defendant, Thiprachaya, the 9th defendant and Nongnute, the 10th defendant were arrested.
20 February 2015
Kornaruth, Thiprachaya and Nongnute were taken to the TCSD at noon for further intorogation. Later on they were taken to the Military Court where petition for pre-trial detention will be filed.
Kornaruth's relative filed bail petition with 1,000,000 Baht cash deposit. The court however dismissed bail petition. Kornaruth along with other 2 defendats were remanded in custody.
23 February 2015
Thiprachaya's relatives filed bail petition with 400,000 Baht cash deposit. The court however dismissed the petition on the ground that it afriad that the defendant may ran away.
17 March 2015
Wittaya, the 11th defendant was arrested.
21 March 2015
Inquiry officials brought Wittaya to the Military Court. In a petition for pre-trial detention, The inquiry official also request the court not grant bail to the defendant as he may ran away due to severity of the penalty.
23 March 2015
Kornwan, the 12th defendant was arrested.
28 March
The Military Court authorized pre-trial detention order for the inquiry officials to detain Kornwan for 12 days.
1 April 2015
Kornwan's relative filed bail petition with title deed worth 1,080,000 Baht. The court however dismissed the petition.
24 April 2015
A Military prosecutor filed Lese majeste charge against 12 defendants before the military court. All were charge in the same case file.
