A prominent Thai pro-democracy activist has been sentenced to two years in prison for posting an insult below an upside-down picture of the king on social media.

The activist, Parit Chiwarak, also known as “Penguin”, was absent from the court this Wednesday when he was found guilty of infringing Thailand’s royal defamation laws.

Recall that Parit was one of the key figures who led the 2020 and 2021 pro-democracy protests, which saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets with unprecedented calls for reform of the monarchy.

The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) group says he is also expected to face a further 24 royal defamation charges.

Blaze Fm