BANGKOK — The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Tuesday that it is appalled at the long prison sentences given to people convicted in Thailand of insulting the monarchy, and is calling for the immediate release of people jailed for exercising freedom of expression.
The agency’s statement, released in Geneva, comes four days after Thai military courts in separate cases gave prison sentences of 30 and 28 years, respectively, to a man and a woman for posting messages on Facebook found to have violated the lese majeste law.
Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the United Nations agency is urging the Thai government to amend the law, which it described as ‘‘vague and broad,’’ to meet international rights standards, declaring that it should not be used to smother debate on public issues, even if criticism of the head of state is involved.
Both of the accused in Friday’s cases were originally given even more substantial sentences that were halved because they pleaded guilty.
A spokesman for Thailand’s ruling junta defended the long sentences as ‘‘just.’’
Discussion of the monarchy is an extremely sensitive subject, since anyone can file a complaint under the law. It has usually been used as a way to harass opponents in political disputes.