Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is very concerned regarding further developments in the case of an independent publication that was ordered recently to take copies of its October 2005 issue out of circulation (UA-112-2006). The publisher has now been charged with insulting the monarchy. The AHRC would like to stress, once again, that the actions against this publisher are in direct contravention of international law and the Constitution of Thailand.
On 1 April 2006 Thanapol Eawsakul, editor of Thai magazine Fah Diew Kan, together with his legal representatives and 22 witnesses were asked to go to Samranrat District Police Station. Police officers charged Thanapol with lese majeste and presented a document with 19 paragraphs extracted from his magazine containing an interview with prominent social critic Sulak Sivaraksa, who currently has three lese majeste charges pending against him. This extract is being used by the police as the basis for the lese majestecharge against the publisher.
During his interrogation, Thanapol vehemently denied the charges and said that he published his magazine in good faith and exercising his right to freedom of expression as contained in article 39 of the constitution.
The police are currently investigating the case and any evidence or witnesses Thanapol wants to present to argue his case need to be submitted by April 30. The police officers are currently gathering evidence to be submitted to the prosecution. Thanapol is the only accused at the moment and the next scheduled meeting he has with the police is on May 4 at 10:00am.
This case demonstrates the vulnerable position that the independent media in Thailand is in since the government can use many avenues to attack when it feels threatened by individuals who try to give the public an alternative viewpoint of Thai society. Many of the legal procedures deployed are out of date, such as criminal defamation and broadcasting laws that contravene the 1997 Constitution. However, in the absence of organic laws to amend or modify these, they continue to be used despite defying constitutional provisions.
Even the King of Thailand himself did not condone the use of lese majeste, and encouraged public criticism in his annual birthday speech in December 2005 (refer to Royal Birthday Address King Can Do Wrong).
In view of the above, the Thai government should re-consider its use of lese majeste as a method to silence public discussion and criticism, along with other unnecessary provisions, such as the country’s onerous criminal defamation laws, about which the AHRC and the Asian Legal Resource Centre have written at length (see for instance ALRC-PL-22-2005and AS-038-2005).
Please refer back to the original appeal (UA-112-2006) for further details and a sample letter on the first case. Additional information and contact addresses on the pending lese majeste charge will be given in due course.
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
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SAMPLE LETTER
