Thai court acquits opposition politician accused of royal insult

BANGKOK: A ‌Thai criminal court has acquitted a prominent Thai opposition political figure charged with cybercrimes and insulting the royal family during a 2021 Facebook livestream, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the 47-year-old founder of the progressive political movement aligned with the current opposition People’s Party, had ‌been accused ‌of lese majeste and violating ‌the ⁠country’s cyber laws ⁠during the January 2021 livestream, in which he said the government had mishandled its COVID-19 vaccine campaign and unfairly favored Siam Bioscience, a company owned by King ⁠Maha Vajiralongkorn.
He was formally indicted ‌in 2022.
Thailand ‌has one of the world’s strictest ‌lese majeste laws and a conviction ‌carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. Breaches of its computer crimes act are also punishable by ‌up to five years in prison.
Thanathorn’s lawyer, Krisadang Nutcharat said the ⁠prosecutor has ⁠30 days to appeal the court’s sentence.
The office of the attorney general did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thanathorn was banned from politics for 10 years by the Constitutional Court in 2020 over a loan he extended to the now-dissolved Future Forward Party, the predecessor of the People’s Party.