Thailand:Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej has pardoned a Swiss man jailed for 10 years for defacing pictures of the monarch on his birthday, prison chief Chuchart Chailert said yesterday.
"His majesty has granted him a pardon and we released him on Tuesday," said the head of the prison in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where Oliver Rudolf Jufer (57) was sent after being sentenced last month. "He now feels guilty about what he has done and is grateful for the royal pardon," Mr Chuchart said on the eve of the Thai new year.
The Swiss embassy in Bangkok said it was "assisting Thai authorities" in Mr Jufer's deportation. "He will be travelling back to Switzerland at the earliest opportunity," a spokesman said.
The pardon for Mr Jufer was not a surprise. King Bhumibol has said in public that he is not above criticism and usually pardons people jailed for lèse majesté.
Mr Jufer, a longtime Thai resident, was arrested in Chiang Mai for spraying paint on several portraits of King Bhumibol (79) and Queen Sirikit.
- (Reuters)