Thai prosecutors dropped royal defamation charges on Thursday against an American scholar accused of insulting the monarchy over an article published on a political website.
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Paul Chambers – a long-time Southeast Asia politics scholar in Thailand – was arrested last month in Phitsanulok province, north of Bangkok, under the kingdom’s strict lèse-majesté laws.
The case marked a rare instance of a foreign national being charged under Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, which bans criticism of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family and carries sentences of up to 15 years in jail per offence.
The Office of the Attorney General said on Thursday it had decided “not to indict” Chambers.
“The director general had decided not to indict the suspect,” the statement said, adding that prosecutors would seek to dismiss the case in court and coordinate with police.
The Thai army, a staunch defender of the monarchy, filed the complaint over a short blurb posted on a political think tank website this year.