Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej has pardoned a Swiss man jailed for 10 years for defacing royal images, a prison official said today.
"His majesty has granted him a pardon and we released him [Oliver Rudolf Jufer]on Tuesday," said the head of the prison in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Jufer (57) was sent there after being sentenced last month.
"He now feels guilty about what he has done and is grateful for the royal pardon," the official said on the eve of the Thai New Year.
The pardon for Jufer, who is due to leave for Switzerland today, was not a surprise. King Bhumibol has said in public that he is not above criticism, and he usually pardons people jailed for lese majeste.
Jufer, a longtime resident of Thailand, was arrested in Chiang Mai for spraying black paint on several portraits of King Bhumibol (79), whom many Thais revere as semi-divine, and Queen Sirikit.
He was initially sentenced to 20 years in jail, but the judge reduced the term because Jufer, facing up to 75 years in prison, pleaded guilty.