Thailand Plans Tougher Lese Majeste Law

[sriracha john]

Thailand plans tougher lese majeste law

BANGKOK - Thailand, which strictly enforces laws protecting the monarchy, plans to extend protection to royal advisers and other members of the royal family and restrict media coverage of cases, lawmakers said on Monday.

Under the proposed amendments, to be debated by the parliament on Wednesday, journalists could be jailed for three years and fined 60,000 baht ($1,750) for ignoring a court-ordered publication ban.

"We don't want any offence to the monarch to be repeated in the news or become an issue of any criticism" inside or outside Thailand, Supreme Court chief judge Pornpetch Wichitcholchai told Reuters.

Those protected by the expanded law would include sons and daughters of the monarch and royal advisers known as privy councillors, Pornpetch said.

"The current law doesn't cover privy councillors, some of whom have become political victims," he said.

Last month, the government threatened to block clips on video-sharing Web site YouTube that accused chief royal adviser Prem Tinsulanonda of masterminding last year's bloodless coup.

Such allegations against Prem have been made by supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during demonstrations and denied repeatedly by the generals and government they appointed.

The government had lifted a five-month ban on YouTube's site in August after its owner, Google, installed filters to stop Thais from accessing clips deemed to insult King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest reigning monarch.

Thailand's lese majeste law is already among the toughest in the world, with jail terms of three to 15 years for anyone who "defames, insults or threatens" the king, queen, heir apparent or regent.

Under the proposed amendments, those found guilty of lese majeste against royal children face up to seven years in jail, and up to five years if it is against royal advisors, Pornpetch said.

The most recent conviction was of a Swiss man jailed for 10 years in March for defacing pictures of the king.

At the request of police, few Thai newspapers reported the case of Oliver Rudolf Jufer, who received a royal pardon and was deported.

"The police were doing the right thing and the media made the right decision not to report the story, but we are going to put those judgment calls into law," Pornpetch said.

But a media rights advocacy group said the amendments would gravely violate people's freedom of expression, which should be debated widely in the public, not by army-appointed legislators.

"The existing law is already very powerful to gag the people. There is no need to make it tougher," said Supinya Klangnarong of the Campaign for Popular Media Reform.

"They should let the democratically elected lawmakers decide what to do with the current law," she told Reuters.

- Reuters

================================================================================

Group wants protections widened

A group of 64 members of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) is seeking to extend protections against criticism for members of the royal family and Privy Council members as well as representatives appointed by the monarchy. The group, led by Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, an NLA member and Supreme Court chief judge, plans to propose amendments to the Criminal Code in which Their Majesties' children, privy councillors and representatives appointed by the monarchy will be protected from defamation, insults or threats. Under the draft proposal, offenders would be subject to a maximum jail term of five years and/or a fine of between 10,000 and 100,000 baht. The current Criminal Code covers only Their Majesties, the heir apparent and the regent, and carries a maximum seven-year prison term and/or a maximum 140,000 baht fine.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/09Oct2007_news03.php

[Jai Dee]

Revamp for law on lese majeste

More protection for Privy Council chief and representatives of Royals

A proposed amendment to the lese majeste law could provide more protection for the president of the Privy Council and impose stiffer penalties on violators.

In a copy of the draft law obtained by The Nation yesterday, Article 112/2 would be added to include offences against the Privy Council president and the representatives appointed to His Majesty the King and his children.

Punishment for such crimes could also be increased to up to five years in jail and a Bt100,000 fine, according to the draft amendment prepared by a National Legislative Assembly (NLA) members.

NLA chairman Meechai Ruchuphan said it was unclear if the government would propose its own version of the amendment.

Supinya Klangnarong, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Media Reform, said she was "shocked" to find that former Thai Journalists Association chairman Pattara Khampitak and media professional Kamnoon Sittisaman were among the NLA members who proposed the amendment, as well as former members and supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy.

"I was shocked and distressed after reading the draft. It's worrying as the laws might be used as a political tool. It will certainly hurt people's freedom [of expression] and rights. It's not proper either that the NLA should pass such laws as this is a caretaker [Parliament]," she said.

The amendment to the Criminal Law and Criminal Penal Code is scheduled to be considered by the NLA tomorrow.

It was proposed by Porn-petch Wichitcholchai and supported by more than 50 NLA members, including Vice-Admiral Pajun Tamprateep, who is a close aide of Privy Council President Prem Tinsu-lanonda.

Among the other NLA members who supported the amendment were Sompot Kanchanaporn, Wallop Tang-kananurak, Somsak Kwang-sopa, Prapa Haetrakool, Gen Oud Buengbon, Gen Sonthat Attanant, Khunying Suchada Kiranandana, Borwornsak Uwanno and Praphan Koonmee.

The amendment draft also proposed expanding Article 112 to cover violations against representatives of His Majesty and those of the King's children. Those who violate the law could be jailed for up to seven years and fined up to Bt140,000.

Meechai said the proposed amendment to Article 112 was the result of a study of national problems by a panel he appointed. It was also in line with one of the four reasons behind the military coup against the Thaksin Shinawatra government.

The panel also proposed an amendment to allow police, attorneys and judges to ban the media from criticising or commenting on lese majeste cases. Those who violate the ban would face three years in jail and/or a fine of Bt60,000, the draft said.

The panel was led by Sompot and included 23 members.

Source: The Nation - 09 October 2007

[chevykanteve]

Amendment bills to increase penatlies on lese majeste cases withdrawn

A National Legislative Assembly member Tuesday withdrew two bills designed to amend the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedural Code to increase penalties on lese majeste cases.

Pornphet Wichitcholchai, the NLA member, who proposed the bills, said he withdrew them after receiving a phone call from a privy counicllor, saying the Privy Council did not agree with the amendments.

The amendments seek to insert a clause in Article 112 of the criminal law that covers offences against the monarchy institution to include offences against representatives of the King and the King's sons and daughters.

The Nation

[silverhawk_usa]

Amendment bills to increase penatlies on lese majeste cases withdrawn

A National Legislative Assembly member Tuesday withdrew two bills designed to amend the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedural Code to increase penalties on lese majeste cases.

Pornphet Wichitcholchai, the NLA member, who proposed the bills, said he withdrew them after receiving a phone call from a privy counicllor, saying the Privy Council did not agree with the amendments.

The amendments seek to insert a clause in Article 112 of the criminal law that covers offences against the monarchy institution to include offences against representatives of the King and the King's sons and daughters.

Nation 9-Oct-2007 5:30PM Nation Link

Edited October 10, 2007 by Jai Dee
Speculative comment deleted.

[Jai Dee]

Due to the speculation about this sensitive topic, I have deleted all posts except for news bulletins on the subject, and I am locking the topic to prevent any further replies.

Should any more news develop on the subject, the thread will be re-opened to post such developments and then locked again.

If any member finds a report from a valid news source on the issue, please PM me or any other online moderator with a link to the news source, and we can add it into the thread for you.

/Closed.

[Jai Dee]

NLA member drops planned new lese majeste laws

Proposed amendments to the lese majeste laws that would make it illegal to criticise an adviser to His Majesty the King, have been withdrawn due to concern from Privy Council members, the proponent of the bills said yesterday.

Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) member who proposed the bills, said he was contacted by a privy councillor who said the Privy Council was not comfortable about the law amendment.

The proposed amendment to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedural Act would increase penalties for those violating the laws, and expand the protection to cover the Privy Council president and privy councillors.

The law amendment was originally scheduled to be deliberated by the NLA today.

"After I received the call from the privy councillor I contacted the NLA coordination committee member who suggested we could change some issues, but I disagreed fearing we might leave some flaws. So I withdrew the entire draft. The issue about privy councillors has ended," Pornpetch said yesterday. Pornpetch said he would discuss the issue with an NLA panel studying ways to tackle national problems who suggested the law amendment.

NLA chairman Meechai Ruchuphan said on Monday the law amendment proposal was a result of a study by an NLA panel he had established. The panel suggested legislation to solve the problems of lese majeste, which was one of the four reasons behind last year's military coup.

Source: The Nation -10 October 2007

[Jai Dee]

A serious and sensitive issue

An Editorial Opinion

The group of 64 members of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) who had earlier sought to extend the legal protection against criticism to all family members and representatives appointed by the monarchy, made the right decision to withdraw their proposal to amend the Criminal Code. The legislators made the abrupt about-turn after the Privy Council expressed its concern about the move and wisely suggested that it did not need such protection. According to Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, the group's leader, the 64 legislators will continue to work on the issue to see if it is necessary to rewrite the amendment to cover members of the Royal Family but not the Privy Council.

The point, however, is that lawmakers should still stop the debate immediately and leave the issue for an elected Parliament. First of all, it should be made clear that opposing lese majeste laws or their extension is in no way tantamount to disrespecting the Royal Family. As a constitutional monarchy, Thailand upholds His Majesty in a position of extreme reverence and the lese majeste laws are in place to punish those who criticise the King. Still, lese majeste laws have problems, largely because anyone can file a lawsuit accusing someone of insulting His Majesty. As many legal scholars have noted, lese majeste charges in Thailand are often used to discredit or silence a political opponent instead of genuinely seeking to protect the monarchy.

More from the Bangkok Post here.

Comment: I'd recommend readers interested in this subject follow the link posted above and read the editorial before link decay occurs and the article is lost forever. Copyright laws prevent me from posting the entire article here.