A man has been sentenced to 35 years in jail for an 'insulting' Facebook post against the Thai royal family.
A military court in Thailand sentenced the 34-year-old man to the harsh term after violating the country's lèse-majesté law, which makes it an offence to insult the monarchy.
The man, who has been named only as Wichai, was convicted on 10 counts of lèse-majesté, the Guardian reports.
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He was accused of using his Facebook to post photos and videos of the royal family, said iLaw, a group that tracks royal defamation cases.
Yingcheep Atchanont from iLaw, said: "The court punished him with seven years per count. Altogether he was given 70 years, but it was reduced in half because he confessed."
iLaw also said the suspect initially denied the charges, but confessed after being held in jail for over a year, waiting for proceedings to start.
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Typically, these types of cases are kept top-secret. Reporters were told they couldn't enter the military court where the verdict was read.
On the same day, a criminal court sentenced another suspect for sharing an audio clip from a political radio show, which is thought to be insulting to the royal family. The person who shared the clip was given two and a half years in prison.
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The law has surged in use since 2014 following the coup in the country, when the junta, led by retired army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, tightened up the laws and restrictions on Internet use.
Last month the country threatened to close down Facebook, if the social media giant didn't censor material the Thai government thought was inappropriate.
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Since 2014, over 100 people have been convicted of defaming the monarchy. The United Nations has warned the law 'may constitute crimes against humanity' - however, the organisation has not made attempts to step in and remove it.
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