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Thai MP jailed for posts insulting the monarchy
A Thai female MP has been sentenced to six years in jail under the country’s harsh lese-majeste laws and may lose her seat if denied bail.
Rukchanok “Ice” Srinork was accused of posting tweets critical of the monarchy. She pleaded not guilty.
Ice’s Move Forward party, which won this year’s election, had urged reform of the lese-majeste laws. But the unelected senate used this as the main reason for blocking Move Forward’s attempt to form a government.
Opposition to the lese-majeste laws was one of the issues which sparked mass protests in 2020, lasting several months. According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, around 260 charges have been filed under the lese-majeste law since 2020. Some 2,000 people have been prosecuted under a variety of laws for their involvement in the protests.
Just earlier this week, a 26 year-old man was given a prison sentence just for shouting at a passing royal motorcade about a burden imposed on society. He has been released on bail.
And on Wednesday, Ice was found guilty of insulting the monarch by a Bangkok court for two posts made before she joined the Move Forward party – in the first, she criticised the country’s handling of the pandemic, and the second was a repost of a tweet that was said to be critical of the monarchy.
Hers was perhaps the most dramatic of many shock victories by the young Move Forward candidates in the May general election – she won her seat in Bang Bon, a constituency near Bangkok which had been the fiefdom of one of Thailand’s most powerful political clans for decades, after a no-frills campaign largely on a bicycle.
She was given the nickname of “giant-killer” by a Thai media outlet, for taking the seat from a political heavyweight.
Several other leading figures in the Move Forward party are also facing lese-majeste charges – many of whom were activists who took part in the 2020 protests.
Those protests were ignited by a controversial court decision in February 2020 which dissolved Future Forward, the previous incarnation of Move Forward and the first party to campaign on a programme of sweeping reform of Thailand’s institutions.
Future Forward had done unexpectedly well in the 2019 election, mainly on the back of enthusiastic support from younger voters. This year, Move Forward stunned Thailand’s establishment by doing even better, winning more seats than any other party thanks to victories like the one Ice won in Bang Bon.
After King Vajiralongkorn succeeded his father in 2016, use of the lese-majeste law was suspended for around two years, apparently at the monarch’s request.
But the boldness of the 2020 protesters in demanding royal reform prompted the authorities to start using the law again, more extensively than at any other time in Thailand’s history.
The lese-majeste law is notoriously broad, which makes mounting a legal defence very difficult.
It is regarded officially as a national security law, and it is extremely rare for judges to acquit defendants. Often the trials are held in camera, with no independent observers. There is also huge pressure on defendants to plead guilty, regardless of the strength of the case against them – conviction is almost certain, and judges routinely halve the sentences of those who plead guilty.
Trials in Thailand often take many years to conclude, which means the lives of the young activists facing lese-majeste and many other charges in relation to the 2020 protests will be consumed for the foreseeable future by incessant court hearings.
This form of “judicial attrition” has proved very effective at snuffing out the protest movement. Protest leaders, some of whom face dozens of charges, simply have no time now to organise.
(BBC)
The inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy, scheduled for February 2027, will be moved out of Sri Lanka with the SLC set to be stripped of hosting rights. Cricinfo has confirmed that the six-team event will be played at a different venue in the same window, and it is likely to be held in India. The new hosts will be confirmed at the next ICC board meeting in October.
Sri Lanka have lost the right to stage the tournament, which was due to be their second ICC event in a year after they also co-hosted the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup, because of government interference in their board. The SLC has an interim administration, called the Transformation Committee, which was put in place by the Sri Lankan government and will oversee major board changes including to the constitution.
The ICC does not recognise politically appointed administrations and SLC representatives have not been at ICC board meetings since the Transformation Committee was put in place.
The change in venue could significantly impact the Sri Lanka side, who only qualified for the event by virtue of it being held in their country. The competition is limited to the top six teams on the ICC rankings and, as of the rankings update on Saturday, Sri Lanka are currently seventh. Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa make up the top five. West Indies are sixth and would have originally missed out but if Sri Lanka do not qualify, then the Caribbean could sneak in.
This will be the second time in three years that Sri Lanka have lost out on an ICC event. In 2023, the 2024 men’s Under-19 World Cup was taken away from them for the same reasons and moved to South Africa.
In any case, while the Transformation Committee is in charge, SLC’s electoral processes stand suspended. The Transformation Committee’s official task is to reform that very electoral system, and the Sri Lanka Cricket constitution in general. According to the country’s laws, this can only be done through parliament.
The Transformation Committee has said it has produced a fresh constitution which is expected to be taken up in parliament over the next few weeks. Members of that Transformation Committee told Cricinfo that it expects for SLC elections to take place before the end of 2026, so long as the parliamentary process runs smoothly.
(Cricinfo)
Iran says it launched missiles at two US bases in Jordan following a US attack on Larak Island in southern Iran earlier on Sunday.
In a statement reported by Iranian news agencies on Sunday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the combined missile and drone operation, which it called “Punishment of the Aggressor”, hit the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases in Jordan.
The exchange of attacks is the first flare-up in violence between the two sides since late July.
The IRGC said the strikes “destroyed the technical and repair infrastructure, as well as the enemy fighter deployment sites”, inflicting significant damage.
Jordan reported intercepting eight missiles soon after the IRGC announced the attack.
“Air defence systems intercepted eight missiles that breached the Kingdom’s airspace at dawn today, Monday,” the Jordanian military said in a statement.
No injuries were reported at either base.
“Aggression and crimes will not solve the enemy’s desperation in attempting to weaken the Islamic Republic’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, and every attack will be met with even more devastating responses,” the IRGC statement said.
Tehran had promised to retaliate for Sunday’s US attack on Larak Island.
The strikes risk renewing the military confrontation as Washington shifts from its bombing campaign to a financial pressure strategy on Tehran, and as the US-Israel war on Iran enters its seventh month.
On Monday, the US military denied that its Sunday attacks were an “act of aggression”.
[Aljazeera]
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Sun directly overhead Neriyakulam, Punewa, Kebithigollewa, Pankulam and Sinhapura at about 12.10 noon today (31)
The sun is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from 28th of August to 07th of September due to its apparent southward relative motion.
The nearest places of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (31) are Neriyakulam, Punewa, Kebithigollewa, Pankulam and Sinhapura about 12.10 noon.
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Sun directly overhead Neriyakulam, Punewa, Kebithigollewa, Pankulam and Sinhapura at about 12.10 noon today (31)
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