Political activist Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison on Wednesday for lese-majeste in 2021.

The Criminal Court initially handed down a sentence of three years, then reduced it to two years because he gave useful testimony in the case.

The ruling was delivered in absentia. Parit, 26, has failed to show up at the court since June 25.

The judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest. The statute of limitations in the case is 10 years.

Parit was charged over comments posted on his Facebook page from July 28 to Aug 1, 2021. July 28 is the birthday of His Majesty the King.

Parit earlier claimed that his Facebook account had been hacked. The court rejected this argument, saying he had failed to later remove the offensive posts.

A former political science student at Thammasat University, Parit was one of the leaders of the pro-democracy protests that began in mid-2020.

He was facing a total of 25 lese-majeste charges, for which the sentences would run consecutively. He is believed to have fled the country, according to local media reports.