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.

Lèse majesté part 2

I wrote about lèse majesté last June. An Australian author has been sentenced to three years imprisonment under the charge. From ABC

Man who insulted Thai monarch jailed for 3yrs

By South East Asia correspondent Karen Percy

19 January 2009

Sentence reduced...Nicolaides was originally given a six-year jail term. (Reuters: Sukree Sukplang )

• Video: Aust author jailed for 3 years (ABC News)
• Related Story: Aust man to plead guilty in Thai lese-majesty trial

An Australian man has been sentenced to three years jail in Bangkok after pleading guilty to insulting the Thai royal family.

Forty-one-year-old Melbourne man Harry Nicolaides wrote a book in 2005 which briefly referred to the private life of Thailand's Crown Prince, Vajiralongkorn - the son of the current King, Bhumipol Adulyadel.

There were tears in Nicolaides' eyes as he faced the court.

The five criminal court judges initially imposed a six year sentence, but it was reduced because he pleaded guilty.

Nicolaides told reporters after the ruling that he wished his family the best.

He was arrested in late August when he was trying to leave the country.

The lese majeste laws are fiercely upheld in Thailand where King Bhumipol is revered by his people.

Nicolaides is likely to apply for a pardon from the King.

Two years ago a Swiss man found guilty of insulting the monarchy was pardoned and deported from the country.

Is the reverence for the royal family freely given or a result of draconian laws? Surely if this reverence is real, there would not be a need for such laws.

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Monday.