New Mandala

From today’s Sydney Morning Herald:
The medieval price an author pays for insulting Thailand’s monarchy
From the hell of his Bangkok prison cell, the writer Harry Nicolaides reveals the horror of his daily battle to survive.
We are woken at 6 and counted in the cell. Mine is 12 metres long and just over four metres wide, holding [...]

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Here is a statement from Forde Nicolaides, brother of Harry. He announces the establishment of a website called Bring Harry Home. Please visit the site to sign the petition and offer your support in other ways.�
The pardon application made by Harry is currently being considered by Thai authorities including the Royal Palace. There is no timeframe [...]

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The following opinion piece, which I authored, appeared in today’s Sydney Morning Herald.
Rights abuse? You wouldn’t read about it
Harry Nicolaides was herded, shackled, into a Bangkok holding cell on Monday. He was sentenced to three years in prison for the contents of a single paragraph. The Melbourne author’s crime was to write a short passage [...]

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From The Times:
Thailand’s drastic use of lèse-majesté laws is damaging the monarchy and freedom.
Respect is one thing. It is not only Thais who revere King Bhumibol, the 81-year-old monarch who has reigned for more than 60 years and is the world’s longest-serving head of state; many foreigners also admire the way he has, usually discreetly, [...]

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The widely broadcast images of an Australian citizen shackled, herded into a holding cell, and sentenced to three years in prison for writing one paragraph should be causing considerable discomfort for the Australian government. In the past Kevin Rudd has made it clear that it is fine for us to have disagreements with our friends in the [...]

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The following is a statement from the brother of Harry Nicolaides in relation to today’s events.
As scheduled, Harry appeared in the Bangkok Criminal Court today and entered a formal plea in relation to the charge of Lese Majeste against him. You may recall that on 21 November 2008 he pleaded not guilty to the charge. [...]

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On Friday, The Age ran an article supporting Melbourne-man Harry Nicolaides, locked up in Bangkok awaiting trial for lese majeste.  It is available here.

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I know there are many New Mandala readers following the tragic case of Australian writer Harry Nicolaides, jailed in Thailand pending a lèse majesté trial.  Today two Australian newspapers, The Australian and The Age, have articles about Harry’s predicament.  The Chronicle of Higher Education has just taken up the story.  Reporters Without Borders is also [...]

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I have received this update on Harry Nicolaides:
Harry’s 84 day remand period expired yesterday but unfortunately he was taken to the Bangkok Criminal Court yesterday morning and the prosecutor served its criminal complaint against him for the charge of Lese Majeste. He will now remain detained in prison until a trial, the date of which [...]

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Last night the ABC’s 7.30 Report had a story on Harry Nicolaides (transcript and video is available here). This story, and other recent press coverage, reflects a decision by Harry’s family and lawyers to place pressure on the Australian government to do more about his plight. This seems entirely reasonable. So far, the Australian government’s action [...]

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