sábado, 8 de agosto de 2009

Harry Nicolaides: One year on.

It's now one year ago (31 August, 2008) since the Australian author, Harry Nicolaides, was arrested at Bangkok airport as he was about to catch a flight home to spend some time with his family. He didn't arrive home until after Christmas!



From StopLeseMajeste

The reason for his arrest? A single passage in a book Harry had written called Verisimilitude, which at that time had sold a mere seven copies, and was available at Bangkok central library - and still is! This was the passage from the book which so offended Thai police and landed Harry in prison:



From StopLeseMajeste

"From King Rama to the Crown Prince, the nobility was renowned for their romantic entanglements and intrigues. The Crown Prince had many wives major and minor with a coterie of concubines for entertainment. One of his recent wives was exiled with her entire family, including a son they conceived together, for an undisclosed indiscretion. He subsequently remarried with another woman and fathered another child. It was rumoured that if the prince fell in love with one of his minor wives and she betrayed him, she and her family would disappear with their name, familial lineage and all vestiges of their existence expunged forever."



From StopLeseMajeste

We shouldn't forget that there are still many people including Giles Ungpakorn who are unable to return to Thailand, because of pending lese majeste charges. It begs the question: Why can't the Thai king pardon these people without sending them to prison first? It doesn't make any sense, and simply proves that the Thai king endorses this wicked law.



From The Akha Heritage Foundation



From ChimpsTparty



After many months in prison and huge international pressure, Harry Nicolaides was finally granted a "Royal Pardon" by the king of Thailand. Harry is now back in Australia with his family. Harry's case brought the issue of lese majeste law to the front pages of practically every newspaper in the West, though more recent cases involving Thai citizens (Da Torpedo and Suwicha Thakhor) have received little press attention.




From FuketTheRama

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