Thai Woman Gets 7 Years for Facebook Post

She said a coup was coming: lawyer
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 17, 2015 9:09 AM CST
Thai Woman Gets 7 Years for Facebook Post
A girl surfs Facebook in India.   (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Thailand's controversial laws banning insults toward the monarchy have claimed another victim: A single mom, identified only as Chayapha, has been sentenced to seven years in prison "for posting on Facebook that a counter-coup against the junta was imminent," her lawyer tells the Bangkok Post. He adds Chayapha was asked "to appear at short notice," but "the military courts failed to inform [her lawyers] that a hearing was taking place" and "we were only informed of the ruling after the fact." The sentence was initially set at 14 years, but it was reduced because the woman pleaded guilty. (This Thai man could spend 32 years in prison for the same crime.)

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