[Tlc] T-politics

Wed Mar 4 07:36:49 PST 2009

Forwarded from Dr. Thongchai Winichakul.
Thanks,
justin

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Wednesday that his government would next week discuss a call by academics for amendments to laws on lese majesty crimes.

"We will discuss it next week," Abhisit said when asked to comment on the call by a group of academics.

The Nation

The Daily Telegraph : Call for Thai monarchy law reform

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25139488-5006003,00.html

The Earth Times: Thai prime minister petitioned to reform lese majeste laws

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/258385,thai-prime-minister-petitioned-to-reform-lese-majeste-laws.html

Thai prime minister petitioned to reform lese majeste laws

Bangkok (dpa) - More than 50 international scholars and dignitaries presented a petition Wednesday calling for the reform of laws designed to protect the Thai monarchy which they claim are being abused for political reasons.

The letter said the "frequent abuse of the lese majeste law against political opponents undermines democratic processes" and generates "heightened criticism of the monarchy and Thailand itself, both inside and outside the country."

The abuse of unsatisfactory laws has created a "climate of fear" where many people are afraid they will become the "next victim," said one of the organisers of the petition, Thongchai Winichakul, a history professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The aggressive use of old lese majeste laws was a modern phenomenon producing a wave of arrests following a bloodless military coup against the populist prime minister Thaksin Shinawatre in September 2006, said Thongchai, the only Thai academic among the petitioners.

The minimum sentence under Thailand's harsh lese majeste law, which makes it a criminal offence to insult or belittle the royal family, is three years imprisonment. The maximum sentence is 15 years.

The petition asks the government to consider reforming the lese majeste law, stop moves to increase penalties for insulting the monarchy on the internet, release people already convicted and to consider decriminalizing the offence of lese majeste.

A prominent opposition politician, Jakrapob Penkair, is to talk to the Attorney-General's Office Thursday, which must decide whether to prosecute the former minister for comments made at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in August 2007.

Several people cases of lese majeste are pending in the Thai courts.

A well-known Anglo-Thai university lecturer, Giles Ji Ungpakorn, recently fled to Britain after being charged with insulting the monarchy in an academic criticism of the coup published in 2006.

Social critic Chotisak Onsoong is in trouble for refusing to stand for the royal anthem, which is played before movies at Thai cinemas.

The petition includes many of the most prominent scholars in Thai and Asian studies, as well as concerned world citizens like Noam Chomsky. A hard copy of the petition will be presented to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva within the next few weeks, Thongchai said.

Andrew Walker, a senior fellow in the research school of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, said the move was simply made to encourage the government, and the Thai people, to discuss reform of the current laws.

"It is the Thais themselves who must discuss this," he said.

Wednesday's press conference was held in the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, with Thongchai and Walker appearing by video-link.

The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology has closed down well over 2,000 web sites in recent weeks for posts deemed offensive to the monarchy. The Justice Ministry said it will demand court orders to shut down a further 3,000 to 4,000 "insulting" web sites. dpa bb im jh 041011 GMT Mrz 09 nnnn

cademics call for Thai monarchy law reform

ATTENTION - ADDS PM quote ///

BANGKOK, March 4, 2009 (AFP)

A group of academics Wednesday launched a campaign to reform tough laws protecting Thailand's widely revered monarchy, amid a growing crackdown on alleged violators.

More than 50 foreign and local experts, including famed linguist Noam Chomsky, have signed a letter to be sent to new Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva which says the law is being abused for political ends.

The letter was unveiled at a packed press conference at Bangkok's Foreign Correspondents' Club and hosted by two experts who addressed the meeting via Internet videophone.

"How far are we going to stand idly under this climate of fear? The lese majeste law has created the climate of fear," US-based academic Thongchai Winichakul told the press conference over the video link.

Lese majeste, which in Thailand means insulting or defaming 81-year-old King Bhumibhol Adulyadej or any members of the royal family, is punishable by up to 15 years in jail.

Last month Australian writer Harry Nicolaides was pardoned after being sentenced to three years in jail for slandering the crown prince in a self-published novel.

Giles Ji Ungpakorn, an outspoken political science professor, fled to Britain last month after he was charged over a book about a 2006 coup in Thailand.

The campaign letter calls for the release of individuals jailed under lese majeste laws, a reform of the law and an end to "suppressive measures against individuals, web sites, and the peaceful expressions of ideas."

"As scholars and sympathetic observers of Thailand, we are extremely concerned about the recent legal actions taken against Thai and foreign citizens under the lese majeste law," the letter said.

"Instead of protecting reputations, these lese majeste cases generate heightened criticism of the monarchy and Thailand itself."

Thongchai and press conference co-host Andrew Walker, who spoke from Australia, both said work commitments had kept them from attending in person but admitted to feeling "cautious" about attending such a discussion within Thailand.

The monarchy's role in Thailand's recent political upheaval -- involving a self-proclaimed royalist group which blockaded Bangkok's airports last year -- remains one of the most sensitive subjects in the kingdom.

Officials say more than 4,800 webpages have been blocked since March last year because they contain content deemed insulting to the monarchy, and that at least 17 lese majeste cases are currently under way.

Abhisit refused to be drawn on the campaign when pressed by reporters Wednesday.

"Let's discuss it next week," he said.

But the prime minister has previously defended the crackdown, telling AFP that there were "historical and cultural differences" between Thailand and other countries.

ct/dk/bsk

Thailand-royals-media-censorship AFP 040956 GMT MAR 09

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu