Man gets 10 years in Thai graffiti case
03/29/2007 03:57:22


By RUNGRAWEE C. PINYORAT, Associated Press Writer 6 minutes ago

CHIANG MAI, Thailand - A Swiss man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for spray-painting graffiti over images of Thailand‘s revered king, the first conviction of a foreigner in at least a decade under strict Thai laws protecting the monarchy.

Judge Phitsanu Tanbukalee said Jufer was given a reduced sentence since he had admitted his wrongdoing.

The Swiss Embassy issued a tempered criticism.

Jufer was caught by surveillance cameras on Dec. 5 spray-painting black paint over five outdoor posters of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where he lived, police and prosecutors said. His lawyer said he was intoxicated during the act.

The vandalism coincided with Bhumibol‘s 79th birthday, which was celebrated across Thailand with fireworks and prayers.

His case casts a rare spotlight on Thailand‘s strict lese majeste laws, which have remained virtually unchanged since the country‘s first criminal code in 1908 despite the overthrow of an absolute monarchy in 1932.

Thai television and newspapers have relied on foreign news agencies to cover the trial. The Thai media and people in general almost never make controversial comments about the king in public.




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