Lese majeste news 2008-2010 Thai man arrested over text messages insulting royals - channelnewsasia.com, August 3, 2010 Australian documentary on Thai royals sparks outrage - AFP, April 15, 2010 Online journalist countersues in response to charges linked to lèse majesté cases - IFEX, March 26, 2010 Arrests throw a spotlight on controversial Thai law - Reuters, December 20, 2009 ...About 100 such pages are found a day, he said. “It is not just about national security. It’s about the hurt feelings among Thai people. Service providers cooperate because they love the country too,” Aree said. ...“Investors who were previously unaware of the intensity of debate over Thailand’s future have quite noticeably begun to voice increasing concern,” Montesano said. “These arrests are likely to reinforce this trend...” Activist gets 18-year prison term for lese majeste - SEAPA/IFEX, August 28, 2009 Journalists fear speech under threat - Bangkok Post, July 7, 2009 ...Meanwhile, the Special Branch Police Division yesterday denied a report it had banned sales of the British-based Economist magazine. Its latest edition carries an article which allegedly insults the royal family. The division head, Pol Lt Gen Teeradej Rodphothong, said his agency was not authorised to prohibit sellers from ordering the magazine for sale in Thailand, and it had still not examined whether the content offends the monarchy. But if anyone complains to the police about the issue and the article breaks the lese majeste law, the officers would act against the sellers, he said... FCCT board accused of lese majeste - The Nation, July 1, 2009 Foreign reporters targeted in Thailand - United Press International, July, 2009 Concern at secret Thailand trial - BBC, June 26, 2009 ...People in Thailand who have listened to the speech say they have never heard anything like it... Royal law a king-sized task facing Thai PM - The Malaysian Insider, May 22, 2009 For an indication of just how strange Thailand’s laws against insulting the monarchy can appear in practice, consider the little-known case of French engineer Lech Thomaz Kisilewicz... Reporters Without Borders and 31 other organisations urge Thai government to amend lese majeste law - RSF, April 28, 2009 Man gets 10-year jail term for lese majesty - The Nation, April 3, 2009 The Criminal Court Friday sentenced a man to ten year imprisonment for posting a picture deemed insulting the monarchy on a website... Thai officials move to quash dissent in book, newspaper - Washington Post, March 25, 2009 In moves decried by freedom-of-speech advocates, courts in Thailand have issued an arrest warrant for an academic accused of insulting the country's revered king, police said Wednesday, and found two newspaper employees guilty of wrongly accusing former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of wanting to get rid of the monarchy... The King & I - Life in a Bangkok Prison- Monthly, April, 2009 ...In Compound One I also met Thaksin Shinawatra's lawyer - the one allegedly involved in bribing the Thai judges hearing the corruption charges against the former prime minister. We met in the small library, where we discussed the law of lèse-majesté - offending the monarchy - and prison life. He brought some legal texts with him and explained that if intent is absent in a crime, Thai law deems the defendant innocent. He recommended I plead guilty and use diplomatic channels to convey an apology to the palace while waiting for a royal pardon. Fighting would be futile, he said, as no Thai lawyer could dispute the charge without impugning the King and the institution of the monarchy. "Make yourself comfortable and wait," he concluded, before resuming his daily exercise routine in glowing white running shorts and sneakers. He was released a few weeks later... Thai bloggers face jail without bail for discussing monarchy - Bloomberg, March, 2009 ‘Political reasons’ behind time in Thai prison hell - our exclusive interview with Harry Nicolaides - Manningham Leader, March 11, 2009 ...Consensual and non-consensual sex, fights, bribery, self-mutilation and even death was regularly witnessed by Nicolaides, who was locked in his cell with between 50 and 60 other inmates from 4pm to 6am each day... Prachatai Director gets bail - Prachatai, March 6, 2009 THAILAND: AHRC strongly condemns police raid on news outlet - AHRC, March 6, 2009 ...There can be little room for doubt that this raid is part of the systematic ultraconservative agenda since the 2006 army coup to intimidate and silence critics, human rights defenders and social activists in Thailand. In fact, the odious law under which the raid and arrest warrant have been issued is one of the main planks in the platform designed to be built over the heads of dissenters in Thailand that was given effect by an assembly of military appointees in 2007... Police arrest Thai website editor - BBC News, March 6, 2009 ...Armed with an arrest warrant Thai police entered the offices of Prachatai, and detained Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the woman who founded the popular news website five years ago. She has been charged under a new law which makes it an offence to carry computer content that endangers national security. When asked to explain what kind of content had brought about the charge, the police refused to comment, saying it was too sensitive. But one officer, who did not want to be named, told the BBC it was comments about the monarchy posted by readers on the website at the end of last year that were at issue... Call for Thai monarchy law reform - Perth Now, March 4, 2009 A group of academics have launched a campaign to reform tough laws protecting Thailand's widely revered monarchy, amid a growing crackdown on alleged violators... Freed writer denies book passage a stunt - The Age, February 23, 2009 ...Before the book's publication, in fact, Nicolaides rather cavalierly suggested that going to prison for lese majeste could bring him literary fame. I believe he was ignorant of the implications of carelessly meddling in the political process and the danger of violating the law. Had he been able to see the future, I believe he would have remained an anonymous striver typing unknown novels in an obscure village rather than an internationally known inmate trying to survive the severe conditions of a Bangkok prison... King pardons jailed writer - AFP, February 21, 2009 Thai corrections backs royal pardon for Nicolaides - ABC Online, February 16, 2009 Australian Harry Nicolaides, facing a three-year jail sentence for insulting Thai monarchy, has been recommended for a royal pardon, Thai corrections department officials said... British professor flees Thailand after charge of insulting king - Guardian, February 8, 2009 ...He said a website had been set up so people could inform on anyone alleged to have violated the law. "There is a climate of fear," he said... Thailand: criminalising dissent - Index Censorship, January 26, 2009 The crackdown on lèse majesté is intensifying as politics becomes polarised around the monarchy, says Sinfah Tunsarawuth... Political prisoners in Thailand Anonymous blog `I am very weak’ Melbourne author tells parents in Christmas letter - Manningham Leader, January 20, 2009 Economist blocked in Thailand over royalty story - Reuters, January 25, 2009 ...The article also reported a growing openness among Thais to discussion of the role of the monarchy in public life due to last year's turbulence, in particular the occupation of Bangkok's airports and Government House by a royalist protest group... The article in question is here. Thailand cracks down on political dissent - NPR, January 25, 2009 In Thailand last week, an Australian writer was sentenced to prison for allegedly disrespecting Thai royalty in a work of fiction. It appears that Thai authorities are increasingly using strict  lese-majeste  charges to discourage political dissent by equating any dissenting views with opposition to the king... Thailand plans to 'educate' foreigners on royal insult - Times of India, January 26, 2009 Thailand's justice ministry wants to launch an overseas campaign to educate foreigners about its laws protecting the monarchy, an official said Monday, after an Australian was jailed under the harsh rules... Australian writer who insulted Thai monarchy shares prison cell with child molester, weapons dealer - Huffington Post, January 22, 2009 ..."The Land of Smiles," as Thailand promotes itself, ranks in the bottom third of world nations in Reporters Without Borders' 2008 Press Freedom Index. "It's part of creating a climate of fear so people don't criticize the status quo," Ungkaporn said. And it's working. An Australian journalist who would only speak anonymously said coverage of Harry's case has been shallow because of fear of reprisal. Thai journalists fear criminal charges and Western journalists fear losing their work visas, the reporter said... Aussie govt asks for Nicolaides pardon - AAP, January 20, 2009 ..."This law applies to everyone - Thai citizens and foreigners, as long as they are residing in the territories of Thailand. This law doesn't apply to anyone outside Thailand," he said. "Usually, I am not sure about the percentage, but I would say 99 per cent of foreigners convicted under this law get pardoned and then we deport them." "128 Academic from International who support Giles Ji Unpakorn" - Left Turn Thailand, January, 2009 Aussie author jailed in Thailand for insulting Thai King, CNN won't repeat insults for fear of similar fate - Boing Boing, January 19, 2009 Thai activist Ungpakorn faces charges today - Asia Sentinel, January 19, 2009 ... The Thai Minister of Justice has called for a blanket ban on reporting these cases in the Thai media, which the mainstream Thai media are largely observing. “Thus we are seeing a medieval style witch hunt taking place in Thailand with ‘secret’ trials in the courts," an activist group supporting Ungpakorn said in a prepared statement. The Justice Ministry is also refusing to publish figures of lese majeste cases. "Lese majeste" blocking? - January 21, 2009 More than one reader has pointed out a periodic blocking on web pages with "Lese majeste" as part of the address. For example here and here. It appears to happen only periodically and not on all Thai ISPs. When they are blocked, the fake "404 file not found" error page appears (right). Pressure Thailand to release jailed Aust author: Xenophon - ABC, January 19, 2009 Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has called on the Federal Government to do everything it can to bring an Australian man jailed in Thailand back home... Anti-coup activist flees abroad to elude lese majeste charge - The Nation, January, 2009 Another internet user arrested for lese majeste as internet regulation dialogue gets under way - Reporters without Borders, January 14, 2009 Press statement by Associate Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn regarding lese majeste charges - wdpress, January 13, 2009 ...Those who charge me with Lese Majeste are doing so because I have shown a principled and unyielding opposition to military coups and dictatorships. Many other activists are facing similar charges for the same reason. We must not forget their plight. We must wage an international and national political campaign to defend democratic rights in Thailand and for the abolition of the Lese Majeste law... A legal offence to criticise the prime minister in the royal audience: Democrat - The Nation, January 14, 2009 [This is related to the latest UDD claim that the PM is causing offense by sitting on a chair next to the King. This is similar to early anti-Thaksin claims of Thaksin insulting the monarchy. More about this on the forum.] Associate Prof. Giles Ji Ungpakorn summonsed by police over les majesty case - Prachatai, January 12, 2009 Boonyuen Thai lèse majesté alleged offender convicted for 12 years - Prachathai, January 6, 2009 ...The defendant was accused of attempting to insult or using slanderous words against the Heir Apparent, the act of which might impair the reputation of the Heir Apparent or expose him to hatred or contempt by public, while she was addressing a large audience at Sanam Luang with the use of an amplifier. ...In the case of Ms. Darunee Chancherngsilpakul, aka “Dar Torpedo”, charged by public prosecutors of Department of Special Litigation 7, with insulting or threatening the King and Queen, the Court has scheduled examination of prosecution witnesses between 23-25 June 09 and defence witnesses on 26-30 June 09.