Thai man arrested on ‘lese majeste’ charge
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Suwicha Thakhor now faces up to 15 years in jail for allegedly insulting the Thai monarchy.
His arrest came just one day after Thai Netizen Network, a group that defends online freedom of expression, met with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and suggested ways to reach a compromise on Internet regulation, including the issue of lese majeste, says Reporters Without Borders.
Lèse majesté isFrench expression, “from the Latin Laesa maiestas or Laesae maiestatis (crimen), (crime of) injury to the Majesty; in English, also lese majesty or leze majesty) is the crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state,” says the Wikipedia.
Thakhor was arrested because his computer’s IP address, “matched the address from which comments about the king and his aides had been sent,”" says RWB, going on:
“He was picked up by the police while visiting friends in the provinces. The authorities say they suspect he knew the police were after him and that he left the capital for this reason.”
Thakhor has denied the charges.
Political science professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn has called for a national and international campaign to demand the abolition of the crime of lese majeste, says the story, adding:
“On 11 January, Ungpakorn was ordered to report to a Bangkok police station on 20 January to be charged under the lese majeste law in connection with his book ‘A Coup for the Rich,’ which can be downloaded at no cost from his blog, http://www.wdpress.blog.co.uk.”
Reporters Without Borders – Another Internet user arrested for lese majeste as Internet regulation dialogue gets under way, January 14, 2009
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