[p2p-research] petition on academic freedom in Thailand

[Athina Karatzogianni]

A Thai professor is facing charges of insulting the king for passages
written in an analysis of Thai politics and the 2006 coup.

The "offending" passages can be read here:
http://links.org.au/node/865




http://links.org.au/node/859

*Stop the use of lese majeste laws in Thailand. Defend freedom of speech*

We, the undersigned, oppose the use of lese majeste in Thailand in order to
prevent freedom of speech and academic freedom. We demand that the
government cease all proceedings in lese majeste cases.

The September 19, 2006 military coup in Thailand claimed "Royal legitimacy"
in order to hide the authoritarian intentions of the military junta. *Lese
majeste charges* have not been used to protect "Thai Democracy under a
Constitutional Monarchy" as claimed. The charges are used against people who
criticised the coup and disagree with the present destruction of democracy.
They are used to create a climate of fear and censorship.

One obvious case is that of associate professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn, from the
Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University. He is facing *lese
majeste* charges for writing a book *A Coup for the Rich*, which criticised
the 2006 military coup. (Read the book at http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/).
Others who have been accused of *lese majeste* are former government
minister Jakrapop Penkae, who asked a question at the Foreign
Correspondent's Club in Bangkok, about exactly what kind of monarchy we have
in Thailand. There is also the case of Chotisak Oonsung, a young student who
failed to stand for the King's anthem in the cinema. Apart from this there
are the cases of Da Topedo and Boonyeun Prasertying.

In addition to those who opposed the coup, the BBC correspondent Jonathan
Head, an Australian writer names Harry Nicolaides and social critic Sulak
Sivaraksa are also facing charges.

The latest person to be thrown into jail and refused bail is Suwicha Takor,
who is charged with *lese majeste* for surfing the internet.

Thailand's minister of justice has called for a blanket ban on reporting
these cases in the Thai media. The mainstream Thai media are obliging. Thus
we are seeing a medieval style witchhunt taking place in Thailand with
"secret" trials in the courts. The Justice Ministry is also refusing to
publish figures of *lese majeste* cases.

We call for the abolition of les majeste laws in Thailand and the defence of
freedom and democracy.

Please send your full name to: Giles.LesseMajeste at gmail.com,
ji.ungpakorn at gmail.com




-- 
Dr Athina Karatzogianni
Lecturer in Media, Culture and Society
The University of Hull
United Kingdom
HU6 7RX
phone: ++44 (0) 1482 46 5790

Check out Athina's work:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyberconflict-Routledge-Research-Information-Technology/dp/0415396840/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Resistance-Conflict-Contemporary-World/dp/0415452988/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyber-conflict-Politics-Contemporary-Security-Studies/dp/0415459702/
http://vectors.usc.edu/thoughtmesh/publish/135.php

http://www.socialissuescollection.com/

Press interviews:

France:http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0,36-924253,0.html
http://www.20minutes.fr/article/180599/Monde-La-Chine-a-soif-d-informations.php
Greece:http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=78490200
Brazil:
http://jbonline.terra.com.br/editorias/internacional/papel/2007/11/04/internacional20071104008.html
http://jbonline.terra.com.br/editorias/internacional/papel/2007/05/20/internacional20070520003.html


'Today the problem is that the glaciers are melting too quickly, and the
ideas that constructed world politics not quickly enough' Ken Booth 2007.
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