Lèse majesté

Is lèse majesté still a reasonable charge in the twenty-first century? In Thailand, it seems to be - from AFP

Thai woman arrested for refusing to stand for royal anthem
17 June 2008

BANGKOK (AFP) — A Thai woman arrested for refusing to stand as the royal anthem played in a Bangkok cinema faces up to 15 years in prison, police said Tuesday.

Ratchapin Chancharoen, 28, was arrested Sunday evening and charged with insulting Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej by not standing during the anthem, which plays to a montage of royal portraits before the screening of every film.

Ratchapin had gone to the theatre to watch "The Other Boleyn Girl," a story about England's King Henry VIII.

Other theatre-goers became angry when she refused to stand, and Ratchapin began shouting "impolite words" as a group confronted her, police said.

Ratchapin was allowed to watch the movie before police took her away.

Major Charoen Srisalak, deputy chief investigator of the Bangkok police, said the suspect refused to answer any questions during interrogation.

"She said only that she did what she wanted to do. Police charged her with insulting the monarchy," he said.

If convicted, Ratchapin faces from three to 15 years in prison.

In April, a Thai man was also charged with lese majeste, or offending the monarchy, for refusing to stand for the anthem in a cinema. Thailand plays the anthem before any public performance.

King Bhumibol, 80, is the world's longest-reigning monarch and commands an almost religious devotion from his subjects.

Thailand's strict enforcement of its lese majeste law prevents any public discussion about the palace.

A cabinet minister was forced to resign last month after he was accused of offending the king in a speech about the 2006 coup by royalist generals who ousted then-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

In April 2007, a Swiss man was sentenced to 10 years in prison -- but later pardoned by the monarch -- for defacing the king's portrait.

The same month, the army-backed government temporarily blocked the popular video-sharing website YouTube after clips mocking the king appeared.

Is respect enforced or earned? The British royal family must sometimes look on in envy.

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Ho hum, back at work today.