Computer Crime Act : Jailed For 2 Weeks, In Secret, No Lawyer

[cclub75]

[note to mod : no need to close this thread. I hope we can still talk about this law, not the reason why this guy was jailed for...]

The new Computer Crime Act is in effect since july 18.

The first victim of this law is a young man, a website owner, who have been jailed for 2 weeks, without lawyer, without contact with his family.

He was released yesterday.

(source Nation)

To have a quick view of this law, see here or here.

[meom]

I guess both parties were in a way testing each other how much they could get away with. Laws are not static and can be changed, adapted etc. to what works best.

[bulmercke]

Notorious website owner released

'Phraya Phichai' bailed, then slips quietly away

Published on September 7, 2007 - The Nation -

"A 37-year old man detained for two weeks at Bangkok Remand Prison on charges under the new Computer Crime Act was released on bail yesterday, a source said.

The source confirmed that the man was the webmaster for www.propaganda.forumotion.com, which mainly discusses the monarchy. The webmaster, widely known in the cyber community as Phraya Phichai, was quietly arrested two weeks ago and public access to his website has been denied since then.

Phraya Phichai, a pseudonym, became the first victim of the new Computer Crime Act, which went into effect on July 18.

The Nation

Though he was arrested on August 24 by Crime Suppression police, he was first seen by his family on Wednesday. During his two weeks in custody, Phraya Phichai never consulted with a lawyer, the source said.

According to the source, Phraya Phichai was charged under Article 14 (1) and (2), which prescribes punishment of a maximum five years imprisonment or a Bt100,000 fine for posting false content on the Internet to hurt others and public security.

It was the first time that police exercised their power under the new law and the story was first reported by the Financial Times weekend edition.

Quoting a senior Thai official, the London-based paper said authorities have used the law to arrest two Thais for "what were deemed particularly offensive comments about the monarchy on Internet chatrooms".

Throughout the past two weeks, Netizens have been worrying about the arrest and disappearance of Phraya Phichai. They have sought an explanation from the Thai government about the Financial Times' report.

Assuming that Phraya Phichai was one of the two victims cited in the report, a Net surfer has started a weblog called Free Phichai, criticising the arrest and demanding the release of the webmaster.

On Tuesday, Fah Diew Kan (Same Sky) Publishing house, the publisher of a radical political magazine under the same name, issued a statement demanding that all agencies related to the issue, particularly the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry and police, explain all facts related to the Financial Times' report.

"If someone was arrested, the government and all agencies concerned with the issue must respect that person's human rights and entitlement to justice," said the statement.

The Computer Crime Act, proposed by the ICT Ministry, has been mired in controversy since it was drafted due to the excessive power of police, who are allowed to seize computers of people suspected of disseminating "insulting or pornographic" content.

The law raised concerns among both local and international human rights organisations such as Reporters Without Borders, which said it might result in an increasingly restrictive policy towards free expression online."

The government vehemently denied this story at the weekend .i.e. that there had been two arrests on charges under the new Computer Crime Act which was reported in The Times of London.

[bingobongo]

welcome to the LOJ (land of junta) where people have no rights and are kindly requested to shut up and let the boys in green stay in charge for the foreseeable future and accept the fact that democracy is nonexistent

welcome to your police state

Edited September 6, 2007 by bingobongo

[Totster]

Topic already discussed and closed HERE

Totster