The Criminal Court today handed down light sentences to five former leaders of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), the group that staged massive rallies against ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra’s government in 2013-14, leading to a military coup.
Another ex-leader got six months behind bars, which he can’t escape because he has a criminal record. The seventh walked free, as the court said he was just expressing his honest opinions.
The seven were charged with serious crimes such as insurrection, terrorism, causing public unrest and damaging state property during the protests that lasted from November 2013 to May 2014. Their goal was to oust Yingluck and her “Thaksin regime,” which they accused of corruption and abuse of power.
The court dismissed the insurrection charges, but found them guilty of lesser offenses and sentenced Uthai Yodmanee and…
