The criminal court held a preliminary hearing in the case of a man accused of defaming the monarchy on Facebook in camera after six months of detention although the defendant claimed that the alleged lèse majesté Facebook account was not his.

Bangkok’s Ratchada Criminal Court on Monday held a preliminary hearing in camera in the case of Piya (surname withheld due to privacy concerns), a 46 year old man who was accused under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the  lèse majesté law.

The prosecutor reasoned that it was necessary to hold the hearing in camera because the case is related to the revered Thai monarchy and might affect public morale.

“Because the case is related to the Thai monarchy which is revered by all people, the publication of the facts of the case during the proceedings is inappropriate,” said the prosecutor.

Piya was arrested on 11 December 2014. He was charged with allegedly posting lèse majesté comments along with pictures of the King on 27-28 July 2013 under the Facebook profile of Pongsathorn Bantorn, after individuals in the northern province of Nan and the central province of Nakhon Pathom filed lèse majesté complaints against him with the Technology Crime Suppression Division.

At the hearing, Piya denied the allegations and said that the alleged lèse majesté Facebook profile was not his. Since his arrest, he has consistently denied his involvement in the lèse majesté Facebook profile, which was not his, although the picture on the profile was his picture, which was taken from the defendant’s Twitter and Google Plus accounts.

The defendant vowed to fight the case to prove his innocence.   

In addition to Article 112, Piya is also charged under Article 14 of the Computer Crime Code, which forbids the importation of illegal computer content.

The defence lawyer said that the court will hold a second preliminary hearing on the case on 17 August and that 20 prosecution witnesses will testify in the case between 17 and 20 November.