A year after taboo on Thai king broken, 103 face jail for royal insult

BANGKOK: In the year since making an unprecedented, taboo-breaking speech openly calling for discussion on the role of Thailand's powerful king, human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa has spent months in jail, charged with the crime of defaming the monarchy.

He's one of 103 people from Thailand's youth-led anti-government protests now charged with insulting or threatening King Maha Vajiralongkorn or his immediate family, a crime punishable by up to 15 years' imprisonment. Hundreds more face other criminal charges.Arnon, 36, says he has no regrets and vows the prosecutions won't crush the anti-government movement, which in recent weeks has been building again.

"I think it has been worthwhile. Now the society can move forward and people can talk about the monarchy," Arnon told Reuters in an interview while awaiting trial. He denies any wrongdoing. The king has traditionally been portrayed as above reproach in conservative Thai culture, and any criticism of the monarch - whom some have viewed as semi-divine - is taboo as well as illegal.

Arnon, however, says talking openly about the monarchy is necessary in the push for democratic reform and the ouster of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who first came to power in a 2014 coup and has long associated himself with loyalty to the king.

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