Australian sentenced for insulting Thai monarchy

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-19 20:26

BANGKOK, Thailand -- An Australian writer was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for insulting Thailand's royal family in his novel, a rare conviction of a foreigner amid a crackdown on people and Web sites deemed critical of the monarchy.

Australian writer Harry Nicolaides speaks with journalists from a criminal court cell while waiting to hear charges in Bangkok, Thailand Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. Nicolaides, 41, said he will plead guilty to criminal charges of insulting Thailand's royal family in his 2005 novel, adding that he has endured 'unspeakable suffering' during almost five months in detention. [Agencies]

Bangkok's Criminal Court sentenced Harry Nicolaides to six years behind bars but reduced the term because he had entered a guilty plea, the judge said.

Nicolaides, a 41-year-old from Melbourne, was charged with insulting Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the crown prince in his 2005 book "Verisimilitude," a piece of fiction that only sold seven copies.

"This can't be real. It feels like a bad dream," a tearful Nicolaides told reporters earlier Monday.

A passage in the book that discussed the personal life of a fictional prince "suggested that there was abuse of royal power," the presiding judge told the court. The prosecutor warned reporters afterward that the law prohibited publication and repetition of the material deemed offensive.

Thailand's lese majeste law mandates a penalty of three to 15 years imprisonment for "whoever defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or the Regent."

Until recently, prosecutions under the law have been uncommon, usually a handful a year, in a country where King Bhumibol is almost universally revered.

But questions about the monarchy have assumed a higher profile lately as consideration is given to the eventual succession of the 81-year-old king, the world's longest serving head of state and the only monarch most Thais have ever lived under.

Although he is a constitutional monarch who reigns but does not rule, Bhumibol, with the backing of the military, has since the 1960s held substantial political influence, usually exercised only in times of national crisis.

Shackled at the ankles and handcuffed, Nicolaides said he felt "dreadful" as guards escorted him out of the courtroom.

"I would like to apologize," he said, adding that he had "unqualified respect for the king of Thailand" and had not intended to insult him.

He said he endured "unspeakable suffering" during his pretrial detention, but did not elaborate.

Nicolaides' case came amid a recent spate of lese majeste complaints and prosecutions, and increased censorship of Web sites allegedly critical of the Thai monarchy.

Nicolaides was arrested Aug. 31 at Bangkok's international airport as he was about to board a flight home, apparently unaware of a March arrest warrant, according to rights groups. He was indicted in November and denied bail.

Nicolaides lived in Thailand from 2003 to 2005 and taught in the northern city of Chiang Rai. He has described his novel as a commentary on political and social life of contemporary Thailand.

New Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said last week his government would try to ensure the lese majeste law is not abused. But he said the monarchy must be protected because it has "immense benefits to the country as a stabilizing force." He said authorities would continue to block Web sites that insulted the institution.

Justice Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga said Monday the new government has blocked more than 2,000 such sites.

The severity of the lese majeste laws was highlighted in 2007 when a Swiss man, apparently acting in a drunken frenzy, was given a 10-year prison sentence for defacing images of King Bhumibol. It was the first conviction of a foreigner for lese majeste in at least a decade. The man was pardoned by the king after serving about a month behind bars.