THE POLITICS BEHIND THE JAILING OF AUSTRALIAN WRITER IN THAILAND ON LESE MAJESTY LAWS
March 1st 2009 11:05
Thailand’s The nation newspaper has editorialised on the bizarre events surrounding the case of Australian so-called writer Harry Nicolaides, arrested and jailed for insulting the king in a book that sold seven copies in Thailand.
MediaBlab, having read part of the book, says that the Thais got it wrong – Nicolaides should have been jailed for crimes against literature.
But The Nation, in its editorial, says, “The pardon for lese-majeste convict Harry Nicolaides is the reaffirmation of royal benevolence as well as a welcome respite to what is seen as the draconian enforcement of the law to safeguard reverence for the monarchy. Equally important, the pardon may just put a brake on the international politicisation of the law, which for some reasons has been given more urgent importance than the real issues disrupting development of Thailand.
“The debate on the prosecution of Nicolaides has raised a number of burning issues. Among the questions is whether the zealous attempt to uphold the monarchy has, in fact, backfired to harm the revered institution.
“No matter what advocates or opponents of the law do, it seems to only fan the flames. And against a backdrop of political division which has created powerful propaganda machines on both sides, a law which has existed for such a long time and did not matter during periods of relative political peace has been thrust into the spotlight. And when foreigners became involved, including well-connected half-Thai half-British activist Giles Ungpakorn, there was no stopping a global campaign against something that Giles himself put on a par with extrajudicial killings of drug suspects and human abuse of Muslims in the South during the Thaksin era.
“But advocates of the law never help either. Law-enforcement authorities had made an all-out attempt to pick apart an obscure book fictionalising the current events with seven copies sold in order to prosecute Nicolaides, a relatively unknown Australian writer.
“At issue is not the law or the judicial review but the manner which the lese-majeste clause was invoked. The Nicolaides case has been sucked into and became part of the political turmoil, where rival camps have always tried to sway sentiment by attacking one another for offending the revered institution.
“Since the political crisis erupted in 2005, police have launched more than 30 cases relating to lese majeste. Only a handful of the police reports have reached either the prosecution-review or the trial stage.”
MediaBlab, having read part of the book, says that the Thais got it wrong – Nicolaides should have been jailed for crimes against literature.
But The Nation, in its editorial, says, “The pardon for lese-majeste convict Harry Nicolaides is the reaffirmation of royal benevolence as well as a welcome respite to what is seen as the draconian enforcement of the law to safeguard reverence for the monarchy. Equally important, the pardon may just put a brake on the international politicisation of the law, which for some reasons has been given more urgent importance than the real issues disrupting development of Thailand.
“No matter what advocates or opponents of the law do, it seems to only fan the flames. And against a backdrop of political division which has created powerful propaganda machines on both sides, a law which has existed for such a long time and did not matter during periods of relative political peace has been thrust into the spotlight. And when foreigners became involved, including well-connected half-Thai half-British activist Giles Ungpakorn, there was no stopping a global campaign against something that Giles himself put on a par with extrajudicial killings of drug suspects and human abuse of Muslims in the South during the Thaksin era.
“But advocates of the law never help either. Law-enforcement authorities had made an all-out attempt to pick apart an obscure book fictionalising the current events with seven copies sold in order to prosecute Nicolaides, a relatively unknown Australian writer.
“Since the political crisis erupted in 2005, police have launched more than 30 cases relating to lese majeste. Only a handful of the police reports have reached either the prosecution-review or the trial stage.”
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