The Bangkok Criminal Court has dismissed a lese majeste charge against a singer even though he confessed.
Prosecutors charged Thanat Thanavacharanon, 59, with insulting the monarchy when he addressed the crowd during a red-shirt gathering in Muang district, Lamphun province, on May 1, 2011.
Thanat, 59, better known by his stage name Tom Dundee, was arrested in 2014 and confessed to the crime.
He is serving time at a Ratchaburi jail on another lese majeste charge.
The court said on Thursday the indictment was not clear enough to establish the defendant had insulted the monarchy.
It ruled since no offence had been committed, it could not pass the sentence even though the defendant had confessed before dismissing the charge.
Thamrong Lakdan, his lawyer, said Tom Dundee has faced four lese majeste cases, the most among all defendants charged under Section 112 of the Criminal Code since the 2014 military coup, according to Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) data.
He is serving 10 years and 10 months in two lese majeste cases -- three years and four months in a case filed by a military court and seven years and six months in the second case.
The case on Thursday was the third and the first to be dismissed by a court.
The last case is with the Ratchaburi Provincial Court where he is due to check evidence and statements on April 23.
