Rubber duck calendar lands Thai man in jail for insult to monarch

Court docket dominated the desk calendar contained footage of yellow rubber geese that mocked Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

A professional-democracy protester with a small rubber duck displayed on his cap holds up a mock banknote - additionally that includes a yellow duck - throughout an anti-government rally in Bangkok in 2020. The yellow bathtub toy has turn out to be an emblem of Thailand pro-democracy and pro-reform protests [File: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP]

A courtroom in Thailand has sentenced a person to 3 years in jail – commuted to 2 years with out parole, in accordance with studies – after he was discovered responsible of promoting a calendar that featured rubber geese and which the prosecution claimed had defamed the nation’s monarch.

Bangkok’s Prison Court docket dominated that the calendar for 2021 contained footage of yellow geese in poses that resembled and ridiculed Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, diminishing his status, the Thai Attorneys for Human Rights (TLHR) group mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday.

The suspect, Narathorn Chotmankongsin, 26, was discovered responsible of defamation and sentenced to 3 years in jail following his six-day trial which ended on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch mentioned.

The courtroom declared that six duck illustrations within the calendar had been created to mock the king, in accordance with studies.

“This case sends a message to all Thais, and to the remainder of the world, that Thailand is shifting additional away from – not nearer to – turning into a rights-respecting democracy,” Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday.

Prosecuting somebody for promoting satirical calendars “exhibits that Thai authorities are actually attempting to punish any exercise they deem to be insulting the monarchy,” Pearson mentioned.

Thailand’s pro-democracy motion has used yellow inflatable geese to symbolise their trigger for political reform, which additionally consists of reforming the Thai monarchy “as a elementary step towards a democratic transition”, HRW mentioned.

Based on the French information company AFP, the suspect was initially handed a three-year jail time period after he was arrested for promoting the calendars on a pro-democracy Fb web page.

“However the sentence was commuted to 2 years with out parole after the defendant gave testimony that was helpful to the consideration,” AFP quoted the TLHR group as saying.

“The yellow bathtub toys grew to become an unintended image of 2020’s pro-democracy protest motion after demonstrators used giant inflatable geese to protect themselves from police tear fuel and water cannon,” AFP reported.

Based on TLHR, greater than 230 folks have been charged underneath Thailand’s draconian lese-majeste legal guidelines since 2020.

The regulation permits for jail phrases of between three and 15 years for anybody who defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the inheritor obvious or the regent. The regulation has lengthy drawn criticism for its harshness and the convenience with which anybody can file a criticism, which critics say has allowed for its use for partisan political functions.

The regulation has turn out to be a spotlight of pro-democracy activists, who've referred to as for it to be amended or abolished.

“Thai authorities ought to allow peaceable expression of all viewpoints, together with these associated to the monarchy,” HRW’s Pearson mentioned.

“The federal government ought to urgently have interaction with United Nations consultants and others about embarking on a technique of amending the lese-majeste regulation to convey it into compliance with Thailand’s worldwide human rights obligations.”