Swiss Man Jailed For Offending Thai King

[Artfullmover]

Swiss man jailed for offending Thai king

March 30, 2007

CHIANG MAI: A Swiss man was jailed for 10 years yesterday for insulting Thailand's revered king by vandalising his portraits during a drunken spree.

Oliver Jufer, 57, had pleaded guilty to five counts of lese majeste - the crime of offending the dignity of a sovereign - for defacing several portraits of King Bhumibol Adulyadej with spray paint in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

He had faced up to 75 years in prison, but the court sentenced him to 20 years and then halved the term because Jufer had confessed.

"The court has punished him for insulting the king. This is a serious crime, and he was sentenced to four years for each of five counts, for a total of 20 years," judge Pitsanu Tanbuakli said. "Because he confessed, the court has reduced his sentence to 10 years."

Jufer can appeal against the ruling, but his court-appointed lawyer did not attend the sentencing. Jufer said nothing as he entered and left the court.

Prosecutors declined to comment on the case, because of the sensitivities of speaking about Thailand's king.

Jufer is from Zurich but has lived mainly in Thailand for thepast 10 years and has married a Thai woman, according to authorities. Security cameras videotaped him defacing the king's portraits on December 5, the king's birthday and a time of national celebration.

Thailand has been swept up in royal fever since the king's 60th anniversary on the throne in June last year.

The palace also became more prominent in Thai political life with a military coup in September, which was conducted with the king's apparent blessing.

The generals who staged the coup have repeatedly said one of the reasons for ousting then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was because he had been "impolite" to the king.

Prosecutors are investigating three claims of lese majeste against Mr Thaksin. A fourth charge, accusing Mr Thaksin of praying inside a temple reserved for royals, has been dropped.

Thailand's king is the world's longest-reigning monarch, and one of the few who is still protected by tough laws that prohibit any insult to the royal family. Thai law allows anyone to file a lese majeste complaint with the police, which makes people reluctant to engage in any sort of public conversation about the king or his family.

Portraits of the monarch, who will be 80 in December, hang in every public building, and shrines to him dot the footpaths in major cities.

* Thailand's army-installed Premier, Surayud Chulanont, said last night that elections to restore democracy would be held in December. He ruled out declaring a state of emergency in Bangkok as he sought to cool soaring tensions.

Edited March 31, 2007 by Artfullmover

[dumspero]

To me, one of the best things about Thailand is that it is its own country and it does things its own way.

Given the apparently overwhelming evidence against the guy, it seems like a fair sentence. I also love the irony in this guy being Swiss, the land of neutrality.

Long live the King! And long live Thai being Thai, and not some romanticized "King and I" nonsense. (I can handle the original-those were different times, but how could the people involved in the remake do it?)

[Jai Dee]

This topic has already been posted in the news forum.

Topics concerning the HRH the King and lese majeste are not up for discussion on the forum.

Please see the Forum Rules.

/Closed.