Second Thai protest against royal insult laws

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A small band of Thai protesters marched through Bangkok on Saturday for the second rally in two days against the country’s widely-criticised laws protecting the monarchy. Public protests against the legislation are rare in Thailand, where discussions related to the royal family are hugely sensitive, but the action was sparked by a recent court case that saw a grandfather jailed for 20 years. In a case that alarmed rights activists and the European Union, Ampon Tangnoppakul, 61, was last month found guilty of four counts of offending the royals in text messages sent last year, under Thailand’s strict lese majeste laws.