Thai pro-government protest leader's jail term upheld

Thailand's Appeals Court Thursday upheld a suspended six-month jail term for pro-government protest leader Jatuporn Prompan for defaming former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, a media report said.

The lawsuit, filed by Vejjajiva who is also the Democrat Party leader, said United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leader Prompan in public speeches between Jan 29 and Feb 15, 2010, accused him of calling a meeting of security forces to plot a crackdown on Red Shirt protestors, the Bangkok Post reported.

Vejjajiva was also accused by Prompan of evading military conscription.

The Criminal Court Sep 28, 2012, sentenced Prompan to six months in prison and a fine of 50,000 baht (about $1,546).

The jail sentence was suspended for two years.

The court agreed that Prompan's accusation of Vejjajiva's conscription evasion was a justified and honest criticism.

But the accusation that Vejjajiva had planned a crackdown on Red Shirt protestors was without evidence and intended to cause people to hate him, it said.