Transgender woman faces 25 years behind bars for lese majeste

A transgender woman has been slammed with a hefty 25-year prison sentence for lese majeste and computer crimes.

In a swift ruling from the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court, the 26 year old defendant, Maggie, faced the grim reality of her fate today. Lawyers from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) disclosed details of the verdict, shedding light on a case fraught with legal complexities.

Maggie’s predicament stems from a series of 18 tweets, spanning from December 2022 to October 2023, deemed critical of the royal institution. TLHR revealed that 14 of these messages blatantly violated the infamous lese-majeste law, Section 112 of the Criminal Code, alongside the Computer Crime Act. Four additional tweets breached solely the Computer Crime Act, adding to Maggie’s legal woes.

The court’s sentence seemed draconian at first glance, stacking up to a…