Nicolaides Freed From Thai Prison

[Mai Krap]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02...n=entertainment

Nicolaides freed from Thai prison

An Australian author who has spent five months in a Thai jail is on his way home after being given a royal pardon.

Harry Nicolaides, 41, was arrested last August and was sentenced to three years' jail last month for insulting the Thai monarchy in his 2005 book, Verisimilitude.

His lawyer, Mark Dean, says the pardon was granted on Thursday night and Nicolaides was deported from Thailand at midnight.

"The Australian Government and the Thai Government have been working together very closely on the resolution of Harry's case," he said.

"The various steps that had to be taken in Thailand were expedited in this case, resulting in the King being able to grant the pardon last Thursday."

Nicolaides was sentenced on January 19 by a Thai criminal court over Verisimilitude, which contained references to an unnamed crown prince.

He was arrested in late August as he boarded a flight to Melbourne and was repeatedly denied bail.

TV images of a deeply distraught Nicolaides led to widespread concern in Australia, with his family shocked as he was brought to the court in prison garb and chains.

He described his time in prison as "torture" and "a bad dream" and has expressed remorse over the publication.

[dee123]

Good News

Edited February 20, 2009 by dee123

[mc2]

fantastic.

welcome back.

[jacobbells]

Poor old Harry, constantly denied bail - while the likes of cops shotting farangs get let out no problems.

Hands down, Harry was only the victim of a witch-hunt launched by the PAD/military last year.

Now, it's time for Da Torpedo and Boonyeun - the first of which has yet to be charged and denied bail, the second of which is waiting for a pardon too.

[Loaded]

Good news

[tw25rw]

Maybe his book will start selling and some good will come of it.

He should also have the material for a new book, preferably written under a nom-de-plume, about life in a Thai prison.

[john b good]

At last some semblence of sanity has prevailed.

[Briggsy]

I signed the petition.

I've been waiting for the door to be kicked in.

[MeetJohnDoe]

This is good news. The lese majeste laws in their current draconian form were enacted during Thailand's time under dictatorship. They are used by politicians in order to intimidate and silence their opponents and the free speech of Thai people. It is a shameful pander that the current Democrat Party has even tried to make even stricter.

***Discussion of the Royal Family is forbidden--references removed---sbk***

Edited February 21, 2009 by sbk

[Plus]

The question is - who ratted him out?

He only sold seven copies, very few people knew the book even existed, let alone read it until the offending paragraph on page 156. The book is so revolting I suspect no one read it at all, just jumped straight to the juicy part to check out what he was done for.

So, who ratted him to the police? How did he manage to piss off somebody so badly?

[Plus]

Harry's book and Da Torpedo's rants fall outside what is called criticism, especially Torpedo's. Anyone could have sued someone like Da Torpedo under regular defamation/libel laws, without the need to resort to LM.

[johnefallis]

Maybe his book will start selling and some good will come of it.

He should also have the material for a new book, preferably written under a nom-de-plume, about life in a Thai prison.

He could call it Midnight Express 2, er,...wait.. that was a "Turkish" prison. At least it started with a "T"

[photojourn]

Good news. Sanity finally prevails.

However:

"Any planned celebrations on Mr Nicolaides' arrival will be tempered following the hospitalisation of his mother Despina, who suffered a stroke a fortnight ago.

Forde Nicolaides said his brother would be taken straight to hospital to see their mother, adding the family would still toast his freedom at the earliest opportunity."

Author Harry Nicolaides freed from Thai Jail

[mc2]

So, who ratted him to the police? How did he manage to piss off somebody so badly?

a lot of thai would be annoyed even angry at his comments regarding that

such a sensitive topic

could be anyone.

Edited February 21, 2009 by mc2

[sbk]

posts have been edited or deleted. We do not discuss the motives of HM the King in this thread, I do hope that is clear to all.

[bartender100]

I hope Anthony Grey never goes to Thailand. (Bangkok Secret), they would throw away the key

[hammered]

It is good. It seems to follow the norm for foreigners in these cases.

[dave111223]

Does anyone know where the actual passage in question can be found? I was under the impression that imprisonment was done to punish and deter others. But how can anyone be deterred if they don't even know what the actual crime was?

[dantilley]

The question is - who ratted him out?

He submitted his book to the authorities himself, then forgot about it and had no idea a warrant was out for his arrest.

[Plus]

He submitted his book to the authorities himself

He did???

What authorities? What for?

a lot of thai would be annoyed even angry at his comments regarding that

such a sensitive topic

Not Thais I know. It falls under LM laws alright, but do not refer to HM the King.

I don't think we are allowed to post links to the book, but you know the Internet, if you know the book name it can be found.

The pdf file was scanned off the National Library of Thailand's copy.

Is it the library that reported him to the police?

[Steve2UK]

At last some semblence of sanity has prevailed.

Good news and I'm happy for Nicolaides. Now we wait and see who'll become the next political football.

[wasabi]

This is good news. The lese majeste laws in their current draconian form were enacted during Thailand's time under dictatorship. They are used by politicians in order to intimidate and silence their opponents and the free speech of Thai people. It is a shameful pander that the current Democrat Party has even tried to make even stricter.

***Discussion of the Royal Family is forbidden--references removed---sbk***

I agree the law seems to be used for concerning intent at times.

[Plus]

The law has been abused for other agendas rather than for original purpose, that much is clear.

I don't think it should be the ground for repelling the law altogether, just like banning knives is not a solution to stubbings.

How about having one one legitimate body to file LM charges? Right now anyone can walk to a police station and charge anyone else for LM. There needs to be screening process to reject frivoulous cases right away, before they make it to the media. Sometimes this media exposure seems to be the only goal of filing the charges with no interest in pursuing the case any further.

"Section 8. The King shall be enthroned in a position of revered worship and shall not be violated.

No person shall expose the King to any sort of accusation or action."

I don't see how people can campaign against LM laws and comply with this article of Thai Constitution at the same time. There must be another way to deal with unintended consequencies like using the law for political purposes or even personal vendettas.

[dantilley]

He submitted his book to the authorities himself

He did???

What authorities? What for?

I believe so, hence the copy being in the national library. I read about it somewhere that it was submitted and passed without comment. On one of the articles reporting on his original arrest back in August, can't remember exactly where now...

[BigSnake]

Good for you and your family, go home and thank your lucky stars for this great blessing.

[Mai Krap]

This situation was a absolute outrage from A to Z. The only question now is who is next?

[skettios]

Does anyone know where the actual passage in question can be found? I was under the impression that imprisonment was done to punish and deter others. But how can anyone be deterred if they don't even know what the actual crime was?

I'm pretty sure it's on Wikipedia.

As to how it he got in trouble in the first place. I have a suspicion that Nicolaides submitted his own book to the library. He was asking for attention for the book.

Guess he got the attention that he needed. I do feel bad for this guy, but I don't think he played this very smart, I think a lot of what happened to him was self imposed. Part of me wonders if he will try and make a play on his newfound celebrity status.

Enjoy your 15 minutes.

[Samuian]

This is good news. The lese majeste laws in their current draconian form were enacted during Thailand's time under dictatorship. They are used by politicians in order to intimidate and silence their opponents and the free speech of Thai people. It is a shameful pander that the current Democrat Party has even tried to make even stricter.

***Discussion of the Royal Family is forbidden--references removed---sbk***

add "certain elements", "royalists" maybe... and it sounds closer to reality and the truth then "the democrat party"

Nicolaides became a victim... well, time will come when things will be changed.

How many time Sulak Sivaraksha has been pardoned....?

But his Name will make no waves in foreign press, cause hardly anyone knows who he is... in foreign lands, but hey, "Harry" one of us locked away, freddom of expression, of speech, well there is this law.... if he never would have come into the kingdom of Thailand, this would never have been an issue in the first place!

[Buang]

It's a shame common sense could not have been used in the begining saving this person from what must have been a nightmare.

[spongeman]

One thing is for sure if I was writing a book and living in Thailand I would'nt be writing about the royal family in any way however unintentional that could lead to me going to jail!

Yes the law is strict regarding this but thats the way it is!

Respect the laws of the country you go to.