Found 'guilty until proven innocent' by a Thai Kourt on 23 November 2012, Amphon Tangnoppakul, 62, has been imprisoned since 18 January 2011 for lèse majesté. And is now serving a 20 year sentence.
Lawyer plans appeal in continued fight to release ‘Uncle SMS’ from prison
22 January 2012
Arnon Nampa said he would apply for bail for Ampon, or Ah Gong, when he lodges the documents with the Appeal Court.
On Nov 23, Ampon was found [unable to prove he was not] guilty [, in direct violation of Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Thailand is a signatory,] on four counts of violating the lese majeste law and the Computer Crime Act for sending four text messages deemed offensive to the monarchy to Somkiat Krongwattanasuk, secretary to then prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, in May 2010. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mr Arnon said Ampon’s appeal would be based on three issues.
- First, that the IMEI identification number of the phone could have been forged.
- Second, that there were missing files and documents and discrepancies in the testimonies of prosecution witnesses.
- Finally, that Ampon could not have sent the four text messages because of inconsistencies between where they were sent from and the locations from where Ampon made phone calls a short time later using a different server. Mr Arnon insisted Ampon does not know how to use SMS texting.
“These are basically the same objections we raised with the Criminal Court, but were all dismissed by the judge,” he said.
Mr Arnon said phone records would play a key role in the appeal. He said when the defence argued Ampon did not know how to use SMS texting, the court dismissed the claim on the grounds it could not be proven and that Ampon’s phone records show SMS texting, therefore he must know how to.
“But those were incoming messages, not outgoing,” said Mr Arnon.
Looking over the phone records he pointed out that there were only outgoing voice calls made from the phone, but all the text messages were incoming.
“Anyone could have texted Ah Gong,” he said, citing the mobile service provider, advertisements and other possibilities.
“But the issue is, there were no outgoing messages by Ah Gong, he doesn’t know how to text.”
Ampon’s Motorola mobile phone used the True service, while the four offending texts were sent from the DTAC service. The court judged that Ampon changed the SIM card when sending the messages.
Ampon … has been been nearly two months since the guilty verdict, but he has been in custody since Jan 18, 2011 when he was charged by prosecutors and denied bail after being deemed a flight risk… He turned 62 on Jan 1, celebrating New Year and his birthday by eating som tam and fermented rice noodles in his cell with a few friends at the Bangkok Remand Centre… Ampon was dejected as he missed his family. Each year on Children’s Day, which fell last Saturday, Ampon would take his grandchildren to the festivities at the Naval Academy. “My grandchild wrote me a letter saying how she missed me taking her to the festival,” he said.
An appeal normally takes two to three years. When asked what were the chances of Ampon receiving bail, Mr Arnon said: “Public sentiment will help a lot.”
Amphon has been imprisoned since 18 January 2011 – for a year and four days. Amphon must be bailed on appeal.