<p>The Criminal Court sentenced two high ranking policemen charged with lèse majesté and misconduct to 12 years in prison.</p> <p>The Criminal Court on Friday afternoon sentenced Pol Lt Gen Pongpat C., ex-Commander of the Central Investigation Bureau, and Pol Maj Gen Kowit R., former Deputy Commander of the Central Investigation Bureau, to 12 years in prison in total under three offences. &nbsp;</p>

<div>The Economist emailed its subscribers in Thailand on Friday that it has decided not to distribute the 31 January issue in Thailand due to “sensitive content” which results in “potential risk to our distributors.”</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Economist regularly stop distributing the printed versions in Thailand when the issues contain article about the royal family. &nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div>

<p><span>On 23 January 2013 the Criminal Court in Bangkok convicted Somyot Prueksakasemsuk of two violations of Article 112 of the Criminal Code. Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is a long-time labour rights activist and human rights defender. The Court found Somyot guilty on both charges, and he was sentenced to ten years in prison in this case, as well as to one year in prison in relation to a prior case.</span></p>

<div>Thai police recently arrested a man solely for Facebook messages sent to another lèse majesté suspect in military custody.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The man claimed the messages were merely an exchange of views about politics, but the police said he was supplying lèse majesté content to another suspect through the chat and that they were part of the “movement” to defame the monarchy on Facebook. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Jamroen S., a 59-year-old civil servant, was arrested in early January by the military and police. </div>

<p dir="ltr">As King Bhumibol is aging, it is undeniable that anxiety over the succession looms among Thais. Thongchai Winichakul, the renowned Thai historian, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, discussed the root of this anxiety and the&nbsp;lèse majesté&nbsp; law</p> <p></p>

<p dir="ltr">The Appeal Court granted bail to an ex-lese majeste convict, sentenced to jail for failing to report himself to the junta after the coup.</p> <p>The Appeal Court on Monday granted bail to Nat S., a former lese majeste convict who was first to be sentenced to prison without suspension for defying junta’s order, after the defence lawyer submitted 40,000 bail request. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-68b5de57-24ba-71e7-3835-fc9ccc0ac714">The authorities in the Northeastern province of Nong Khai arrested a man who falsely used the name of the monarchy in a scam related to a water management project.&nbsp;</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-68b5de57-24ba-71e7-3835-fc9ccc0ac714">The police and military on Saturday arrested Chotechuang K., 61, after he was accused of fraud and lèse majesté. &nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>

<div>Thai royalists protested in front of the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok, pressuring the New Zealand government to extradite a lèse majesté suspect living in exile there and threatening to step up measures if the New Zealand government do not comply with their demands.</div> <p></p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-fa0ddf29-15d6-7bef-befc-6015a37035ff">Thailand’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) is developing and testing software to intercept internet communications which uses a secure protocol in order to better intercept and block lèse majesté content, according to a leaked document. &nbsp;</span></p>

<p>The junta leader has admitted that one of the prime goals of the controversial digital economy bills is to catch lèse majesté suspects and did not deny reports concerning Thai authorities’ implementation of software for mass surveillance.</p> <p>At Government House on Thursday morning, Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader, revealed to the press that among the prime objectives of the controversial Digital Economy Bill and Cyber Security Bill is a crackdown on online lèse majesté content.</p>

<div>A red-shirt poet whose lèse majesté case is being tried by a military court has made the extraordinary decision to fight the case despite the dim chances of winning.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Wednesday, the military court scheduled the first witness hearing for 2 April. There are 10 witnesses in total.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>His case is being tried in camera at a military court after the court said his crimes--writing poems-- are severe since his poems touched on the revered Thai monarchy. </div>

<p><span>Yukti Mukdawijitra is one of the dissidents who fled the country right after the coup. The Thammasat anthropologist said his role as an anti-coup, pro-democracy activist</span><span>&nbsp;and campaigner against Article 112 or the lèse majesté law made him feel it was unsafe to stay in the country.&nbsp;</span><span>Yukti, who is now a fellow at U of Wisconsin at Madison discusses the junta’s campaign to crack down on lèse majesté and the outlook for the country after the coup.</span></p> <p></p>