BANGKOK – An activist and lawyer famous for his open calls for reform of Thailand’s powerful monarchy was on Tuesday sentenced to four years in prison for royal insults, a judge and his lawyer said, in one of the country’s most high-profile lese majeste cases.

Human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, 39, is widely known for his taboo-breaking speech during pro-democracy protests in 2020, during which he called for public debate on the role of Thailand’s powerful king. Arnon had denied wrongdoing.

Thailand’s lese majeste law shields the palace from criticism and carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years for each perceived insult to the monarchy, a punishment that is widely condemned by international human rights groups.

Arnon was a leader in the youth-led pro-democracy movement that held protests in Bangkok in 2020, which drew hundreds of thousands of people demanding the removal of royalist former prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who seized power in a coup.

Arnon was found guilty over remarks he made about the monarchy in a speech during a 2020 rally, in the first of 14 cases against him for violating Article 112 of the criminal code, as the royal insult law is known.

“We are trying to get him bail,” his lawyer Krisadang Nutcharus told Reuters, adding that his team would file an appeal and, if necessary, take the case to the Supreme Court.

Arnon, who has been on bail since early 2022 after several periods of detention, was not immediately taken to prison on Tuesday and remained at the court pending a bail request.

Hundreds of people have been charged under Article 112, which is among the world’s strictest royal insult laws, with some violators given sentences of decades, including a 64-year-old woman jailed for 43 years.

The palace typically does not comment on the law.

The verdict against Arnon will be a setback for groups seeking amendments to Article 112, which were considered unthinkable only a few years ago in a country whose Constitution states that the king is “enthroned in a position of revered worship”.

Calls for the law to be changed were central to a bold anti-establishment platform that saw Thailand’s progressive Move Forward Party win an election in May, only to be blocked from forming a government by lawmakers backed or appointed by the ultra-royalist military.

According to legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least 257 people have been charged under Article 112 in the past three years.

Most of those cases are related to the youth-led democracy movement which, having once posed one of the biggest challenges to Thailand’s royalist conservative establishment, has since lost momentum.

As he arrived at the court, Arnon acknowledged that he was likely to lose his freedom, but added that he had no regrets for what he considered “a worthwhile personal sacrifice for the greater good”.

“The youth protest created a phenomenon that has changed Thailand to the point of no return,” he said.

“I believe that the people are becoming more confident in their freedom and equality and are ready to transform the country to be more progressive.” REUTERS