28/08/2025

THURSDAY | AUG 28, 2025

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Thai woman jailed for lese-majeste freed

India releases dam water, warns Pakistan of flooding NEW DELHI: India yesterday opened all gates of major dams on rivers in its part of Kashmir following heavy rains, and warned Pakistan of the possibility of downstream flooding. Pakistan said Islamabad received the warning, and subsequently issued an alert for flooding on three rivers which flow into the country from India. India and Pakistan have been ravaged by intense monsoon rains and flooding in recent weeks. Punjab province in Pakistan faces an “exceptionally high” risk of flooding due to a combination of heavy rains and the excess water India is releasing from the dams, which then flows across the border, according to Pakistani officials. Pakistani Punjab serves as the country’s breadbasket and is home to half of its 240 million people. An Indian source said that some 200,000 cusecs of water is likely to be released. A cusec is a volume equivalent to one cubic foot, or 28 cubic litres per second. A Pakistani disaster management official had warned on Tuesday that India would be releasing controlled volumes of water in coming days. Pakistan says New Delhi had passed on two earlier flood warnings since Sunday. India routinely releases water from its dams, with the excess flowing into Pakistan, as the two nations share rivers. Pakistani authorities yesterday called in army troops to help rescue people from already flooded areas in the Punjab province. – Reuters

BANGKOK: A Thai woman who received one of the kingdom’s longest ever royal insult sentences was freed from prison yesterday under a mass pardon marking the king’s birthday. Anchan Preelert, 69, was jailed for 43 years in 2021 after sharing online audio clips on YouTube of an underground podcast host known as “DJ Banpodj”, a fierce critic of the monarchy. She was initially sentenced to 87 years, three for each of the 29 counts of lese-majeste she faced, but the court halved it because she confessed. Anchan, a former civil servant, was first arrested in 2015 under the military government ruling Thailand at the time. After around eight years behind bars, Anchan walked free yesterday morning along with 84 other inmates granted clemency from the Central Women’s Correctional Institution in Bangkok. Wearing a white T-shirt and a purple scarf, she bowed to supporters who gave her flowers and held signs reading “Welcome Home”. “Eight years I was in there ... it’s a bitter feeling for me,” she told reporters. Thailand’s lese majeste law, known as Article 112, shields the king and his family from any criticism, with each offence punishable by up o Former civil servant granted clemency

Anchan greeting her supporters after her release yesterday. – AFPPIC

Jammu, which weather officials said was deluged with 368mm of rain on Tuesday. The rivers Tawi, Chenab and Basantar overflowed beyond their alert levels, causing floods in low lying areas, Jammu district official Rakesh Kumar told reporters. Television images showed vehicles falling into a big hole after a bridge collapsed on the Tawi river, while some highways linking Jammu to the rest of India were also damaged. – Reuters by rights groups as a setback. More than 280 people have been prosecuted under section 112 in the last five years, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, a group that provides legal services in many lese-majeste cases. Prosecutions soared in the wake of mass street protests led by students in 2020, some of which made unprecedented public criticism of the king. – AFP

It was overtaken last year when Mongkol Thirakot, a 32-year-old online seller, was sentenced to at least 50 years over Facebook posts deemed insulting the monarchy. Several rights groups including Amnesty International welcomed Anchan’s release as a rare reprieve for political prisoners in Thailand. Last month, Thai lawmakers rejected an amnesty Bill for royal insult convicts, a move condemned

to 15 years in jail. Rights groups and critics say the law is overused, and interpreted so broadly that legitimate debate is stifled. Anchan posted the offending clips 29 times, and under the law each one was treated as a separate offence, so she was hit with 29 counts. When it was passed, Anchan’s sentence was the longest ever imposed for lese-majeste.

Landslide kills 30 on pilgrimage NEW DELHI: Heavy rain set off a landslide on a Hindu pilgrimage route in India’s northern region of Jammu, killing at least 30 people, the ANI news agency said yesterday, while floods prompted official warnings for people to stay indoors at night. Authorities were battling to restore telecom services, said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Tuesday’s landslide near the shrine of Vaishno Devi on the pilgrims’ route killed at least 30 people, said ANI.

It was the latest havoc from downpours in the Himalayan region that have killed 60 people, with 200 missing in Kishtwar in Indian Kashmir last week. Authorities also ordered the closure of educational institutions in

Weather officials forecast more rain and thunderstorms with gusty winds for the mountainous region of Ladakh, while heavy rain is set to lash the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Wickremesinghe supporters rallying near the court on Tuesday. – REUTERSPIC

Wickremesinghe gets bail COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan court granted bail on Tuesday to former president Ranil Wickremesinghe who was arrested last week over allegations that he misused state funds while in office.

“We came out in support of democracy and due process. The government should continue measures to fight against corruption. We have no objection to that.” The UNP has said Wickremesinghe, who lost power in a presidential election last year, is innocent and suggested that the case against him is politically motivated, which Sri Lanka’s ruling party, headed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, denies. The case against him is based on an investigation made into a visit he made to Britain in 2023 to attend a special graduation lunch as part of celebrations of his wife’s honorary professorship at a university. – Reuters

Wickremesinghe, 76, joined the court hearing via Zoom from hospital. His United National Party (UNP) said he was admitted over the weekend on doctor’s advice to monitor his health. Hundreds of supporters, including opposition politicians, gathered outside the court in central Colombo ahead of the hearing. “This is a sign of the independence of our judiciary,” said UNP Deputy Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.

A damaged car lies in the rubble after part of a bridge collapsed along the Tawi River yesterday. – REUTERSPIC