Thailand is imprisoning Arnon Nampa, a human rights lawyer and protest leader, for “defaming” the Thai King

Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate

“How’s everyone outside doing?” That’s the first question Arnon Nampa, a Thai human rights lawyer and prominent protest leader, asked me when I saw him for the first time after he had spent ten days in prison for calling for monarchy reforms in Thailand.

On 26 September 2023, Arnon was sentenced to four years in prison for defaming the Thai King in a speech given during a protest in October 2020. In the speech, Arnon referred to King Rama X as the person with the sole authority to order the dispersal of protests.

Under Thailand’s lèse-majesté law (or “royal defamation” law), one can receive up to a 15-year prison sentence for insulting the King, Queen, Heir-apparent or Regent. This penalty is equivalent to that of manslaughter under Thailand’s Criminal Code.

Currently, no fewer than 250 people, including a 14-year-old girl (at the time of the alleged offense), have been charged under the lèse-majesté law.

At trial, Arnon explained to the judge that his speech was delivered for the sole purpose of ensuring that no harm would befall the protesters. This, he noted, was the utmost responsibility of a protest leader. He further stated that the price he would be made to pay for his role in the October 2020 protest is worth it, considering that there was no loss of life on that day. At the end of the day, his call for monarchy reforms was to make sure the monarchy continue to be a respected institution in the eyes of the people.

On the same day of the conviction, Arnon requested the court that he be released on bail while appeal is pending. However, the court denied bail due to its belief that Arnon would flee if bail were to be granted. He was then brought to be detained at Bangkok Remand Prison.

It is unclear why the court suddenly believes that Arnon is a flight risk. Prior to the conviction, Arnon had been released on bail for longer than a year. In fact, in May 2023, the court gave Arnon permission to leave Thailand to attend “2023 Gwangju Democracy Forum” in Gwangju, South Korea.

Although the absence of evidence supporting the court’s belief is legally problematic, it is not unusual in lèse-majesté cases in Thailand. As of 14 October 2023, nine people — Arnon included — who have been charged with lèse-majesté are subjected to detention while awaiting trial or pending appeal.

When I saw Arnon in court nine days after the conviction, he was wearing a brown prison uniform with steel shackles around his ankles. Despite his outfit, Arnon was actually in court on that day in his capacity as a human rights lawyer for his client who, like him, was charged with lèse-majesté. As he walked around barefoot on the cold floor of the courtroom, the metallic clanging of his ankle shackles could be heard by everyone. Shackles and prison, however, have not stopped Arnon from tirelessly representing his clients in more than 30 cases.

The conviction on 26 September 2023 is the first of the 14 lèse-majesté cases against Arnon. If the court were to find him guilty in 13 other cases, he could be sentenced to up to 195 years in prison.

Although this is Arnon’s first lèse-majesté conviction, it is not the first time he is detained in prison for simply speaking about monarchy reforms. Between 2020 and 2022, Arnon spent approximately 317 days in pretrial detention in connection with speeches he gave at different political demonstrations. In other words, he spent almost a year in jail even though no court had found him guilty of breaking any law. It was during his pretrial detention that he was awarded the 2021 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights by the May 18 Foundation for his unrelenting pro-democracy activism and struggle to provide free legal assistance to victims of human rights violations.

Less than a week before his conviction, Arnon told an interviewer that he had no regrets when it came to his call for monarchy reforms. He added that he wanted to care for his children and to see them grow into adults. He wanted to continue working as a lawyer. He wanted to drink sake in Japan. He wanted to travel along the Trans-Siberian railway. He still wanted to continue living a happy life.

When asked whether he was afraid that he would be forgotten after going to prison, his answer was a resounding no. “I have faith in my friends,” he explained. “I believe people outside will find a way to bring me [out of prison]. What I did is part of the movement; it isn’t about me.”

The interviewer also asked Arnon what message he wanted to leave for his young children if he had to go to prison. He said, “I gave it my all to take care of them, to make sure they have a good life when they grow up. What I do may be different from other families, but I want them to be proud that this is a story of the human struggle. Many other families have it a lot worse. … For many families, the fathers never got to return home. They needed to seek asylum in other countries. At most, I would go to prison. The price I might have to pay is a lot lower than that of others.”

At one point during the interview, the interviewer asked for Arnon’s opinion on his children becoming activists in the future. He said, “We must make sure that it ends in our generation. When they grow up, they must have freedom.”

At the time of this writing, Arnon remains in detention at Bangkok Remand Prison, away from his young daughter with whom he used to joke around and his baby boy whom he usually carried everywhere he went.

Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate is the International Advocacy Lead at Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). He is the recipient of Harvard Law School’s Kaufman Fellowship in Public Service. At TLHR, he specializes in issues related to, inter alia, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, fair trial rights, and children’s rights.

Prior to TLHR, he worked on many human rights issues in Southeast Asia. For instance, he worked as a refugee legal advocate in Thailand and with the Office of the Co-Prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.