Thailand's king has pardoned a Swiss man sentenced to 10 years in prison for spray-painting graffiti over images of him, police have said.
Oliver Rudolf Jufer, 57, who was the first foreigner convicted in at least a decade under strict Thai laws protecting the monarchy, was expected to be deported back to Switzerland later on Thursday.
Jufer pleaded guilty in March to five counts of lese majeste, or insulting the monarchy, and had faced a maximum of 75 years in prison.
Officials said Jufer was transferred to a police station in Chiang Mai on Wednesday to await his deportation. They could not say when he would be deported.
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"The king in his kindness has granted him a pardon"
Prachuab Wongsuk,
police colonel |
"The king in his kindness has granted him a pardon and he has been transferred from prison and is in the process of being deported from the country," Chiang Mai police Colonel Prachuab Wongsuk said.
Jufer, a resident of Chiang Mai, was caught by surveillance cameras on December 5 spraying black paint over five outdoor posters of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The defence said Jufer was intoxicated during the act.
Strict laws
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Juffer's defence lawyers said he was drunk
at the time of the incident [EPA] |
The case had cast a rare spotlight on Thailand's lese majeste laws, which have remained virtually unchanged since the country's first criminal code was passed in 1908 despite the overthrow of an absolute monarchy in 1932.
Bhumibol, who is greatly loved by Thais and regarded by some as semi-divine, is protected from reproach by strict laws that forbid any criticism of the monarch.
The vandalism coincided with his 79th birthday, which was celebrated across Thailand with fireworks and prayers.
Jufer's trial was held behind closed doors in an effort to minimise publicity over the case.