Court Acquits Activist Tawan in Royal Motorcade Poll Case

A Thai court on Monday acquitted activist Tantawan Tuatulanon, known as Tawan, and six co-defendants of charges under Article 112, Thailand's royal defamation law, and Article 116, the sedition law, over a public opinion poll asking whether royal motorcades caused inconvenience.

The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said the South Bangkok Criminal Court ruled that the poll, conducted at a shopping mall on 8 February 2022, merely posed the question, "Do you think royal motorcades cause inconvenience?" The court found that the wording did not refer to any specific individual or mention any member of the royal family by name, and therefore did not meet the legal elements required for an offense under Article 112, which criminalizes defaming, insulting or threatening the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent.

The seven defendants had also faced charges under Article 116, which prohibits acts deemed to incite unrest or public disorder, as well as offenses including insulting officials, obstructing officials in the performance of their duties and failing to comply with official orders.

In its ruling, the court said the defendants did not deliver speeches that defamed, insulted or threatened the King. It added that the symbolic three-finger salute by the first and second defendants constituted an expression of individual rights and freedoms, which others may agree or disagree with.

The court also found no evidence that the defendants' actions caused unrest, threatened national security or encouraged people to break the law, and therefore dismissed the charge under Article 116 as well.