Thai govt seeks to extradite lese majeste suspect from New Zealand

[webfact]

ARTICLE 112

Govt seeks to extradite lese majeste suspect

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Office of the Attorney-General is coordinating with New Zealand to have lese majeste suspect Ekapob "Tang Achiwa" Luara extradited to face justice back home.

The move comes after the attorney-general decided to have the suspect face trial and police learned that the fugitive was living in New Zealand.

Wanchai Roujanawong, spokesperson for the attorney-general, said the request had been made under a 2008 extradition agreement.

An arrest warrant was issued for the 24-year-old after police discovered a video clip showing him attacking the monarchy in a speech that he delivered on November 27, 2013, as part of a red-shirt rally at Rajamangala Stadium in Hua Mark, Bangkok.

At the end of last year, Ekaphob posted a photograph on social media of himself and his girlfriend holding up a New Zealand passport and claiming that he has been given New Zealand citizenship.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Govt-seeks-to-extradite-lese-majeste-suspect-30262439.html

-- The Nation 2015-06-16

[webfact]

OAG to seek extradition of Tang Archiva from New Zealand



BANGKOK: -- The Office of the Attorney General has coordinated with New Zealand to seek the extradition of Ekkapob Luara, aka Tang Archiva, back to Thailand to face charges of lese majeste.

The OAG’s special criminal case section 6 has decided to formally charge Tang with lese majeste as recommended by the Royal National Police Office. Also a warrant for the arrest of Tang was issued by the Criminal Court on December 13, 2013.

Tang has escaped out of the country over two years ago and he is now reported to have taken refuge in New Zealand, according to police.

A former vocational student, Tang was accused of making remarks deemed insulting the Monarchy when he took to the stage of red-shirt supporters to make a speech at a rally held at the Rajamangala stadium a few years ago.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/oag-to-seek-extradition-of-tang-archiva-from-new-zealand


-- Thai PBS 2015-06-16

[Always18]

I sincerely hope N.Z. has the necessary balls to tell this regime where they can stick their archaic and repressive law......................

[JOC]

Any western country will hopefully tell the powers here to take their draconian law and stuff it!!

[JOC]

Pure stupidity to bring this case back in the limelight!!

Trying to prove, that they are faithful pawns??

[h90]

I sincerely hope N.Z. has the necessary balls to tell this regime where they can stick their archaic and repressive law......................

Some of the LM is something that would be highly illegal in every country....not only if it is about the King/President....I let it to your imagination what that might be.

But I have no idea what it was in this case. Other cases are known...

[baboon]

Seeing as it isn't going to happen, it is barely worth commenting on.

[kmj]

Yes, really, good luck with that... yawn.

[phoenixdoglover]

I sincerely hope N.Z. has the necessary balls to tell this regime where they can stick their archaic and repressive law......................

Some of the LM is something that would be highly illegal in every country....not only if it is about the King/President....I let it to your imagination what that might be.

But I have no idea what it was in this case. Other cases are known...

Not in my home country.

In the US, you can insult the head of State (the President) in the most explicit terms, 24 hours a day.

The repercussion will be that your friends may abandon you as a "whack job"; but there is no law against it as long as you do not make threats of violence.

[rubl]

Assuming this document is still up-to-date, the OAG may want to read it carefully.

It starts with

"New Zealand extradition law allows New Zealand to extradite wanted persons to any country, regardless of whether a formal extradition treaty exits or not. New Zealand extradition law is, however, complex and New Zealand judges are strict in ensuring that it is precisely followed.

This means that while New Zealand can, in principle, extradite to any country, the process is complicated and foreign governments should liaise with the New Zealand authorities before filing a request for extradition. Current contact details are included at the end of this paper."

http://www.mfat.govt.nz/downloads/treaties-and-international-law/Extradition-Act-summary.pdf

More info here:

http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Treaties-and-International-Law/06-International-Courts-and-Tribunals/6-Extradition.php

Edited June 16, 2015 by rubl

[Robby nz]

I see this arose from a speech from a red stage in 2013.

Lets hope they start going carefully through all the speeches from various red stages and activating the stalled cases against all the red leaders who implicated themselves with their hate and violence filled speeches when they thought they were invincible and untouchable.

[jayboy]

I see this arose from a speech from a red stage in 2013.

Lets hope they start going carefully through all the speeches from various red stages and activating the stalled cases against all the red leaders who implicated themselves with their hate and violence filled speeches when they thought they were invincible and untouchable.

What a delightful person you are.

[JOC]

I see this arose from a speech from a red stage in 2013.

Lets hope they start going carefully through all the speeches from various red stages and activating the stalled cases against all the red leaders who implicated themselves with their hate and violence filled speeches when they thought they were invincible and untouchable.

A Westerner defending the use of an outdated and draconian LM law as a political tool??

Lord have mercy......................

[jayboy]

Pure stupidity to bring this case back in the limelight!!

Trying to prove, that they are faithful pawns??

You are correct.It is myopia of the first order for all the reasons previously rehearsed at length on this forum.

There is an interesting aspect however, namely the motivation (some would say the warped psychology) of those who pressed for action with the NZ Government.They are not presumably unintelligent so already know the request is dead in the water, and will further embarrass the country.So why precisely have they gone down this cul de sac?

[Prbkk]

There is not a hope in hell of NZ agreeing to this. Similarly nor would Australia, Canada, UK, USA, any member of EU. Nor Japan. Their best chance for an extradition is if some 'fugitives' are in North Korea

[jacky54]

Thailand making a fool of itself again

[tolsti]

Should be extradited to face charges of wearing a cap like a retard.

[ratcatcher]

I sincerely hope N.Z. has the necessary balls to tell this regime where they can stick their archaic and repressive law......................

Some of the LM is something that would be highly illegal in every country....not only if it is about the King/President....I let it to your imagination what that might be.

But I have no idea what it was in this case. Other cases are known...

Not in my home country.

In the US, you can insult the head of State (the President) in the most explicit terms, 24 hours a day.

The repercussion will be that your friends may abandon you as a "whack job"; but there is no law against it as long as you do not make threats of violence.

Fortunately there is absolutely no comparison between Barack Obama and the most loved man in this country.

The Thais have their laws and the United States and United Kingdom etc, have theirs. End of.

[thequietman]

But for some reason, they are unable to extradite from Singapore.

Funny that, isn't it.

[glenmohr]

Pure stupidity to bring this case back in the limelight!!

Trying to prove, that they are faithful pawns??

You are correct.It is myopia of the first order for all the reasons previously rehearsed at length on this forum.

There is an interesting aspect however, namely the motivation (some would say the warped psychology) of those who pressed for action with the NZ Government.They are not presumably unintelligent so already know the request is dead in the water, and will further embarrass the country.So why precisely have they gone down this cul de sac?

Every chance your opinion is correct Jayboy.

Surely the Thai authorities would be familiar, or made themselves familiar, with the important clause in the New Zealand Extradition Act which specifies "An extraditable offence involves conduct that would be regarded as criminal had it occurred in New Zealand..."

[glenmohr]

I see this arose from a speech from a red stage in 2013.

Lets hope they start going carefully through all the speeches from various red stages and activating the stalled cases against all the red leaders who implicated themselves with their hate and violence filled speeches when they thought they were invincible and untouchable.

Robby I do not know your nationality or your age.

What I do know is that a heart full of anger, vengeance and hatred is very bad for health.

The human immune system thrives on happiness, we cannot make you happy, you have to do that for yourself.

Peace, forgiveness and reconciliation are extremely important in the welfare of any nation as well as the health of an individual.

Your chances of having a political person extradited from a country like New Zealand back to Thailand are very close to nil.

The New Zealand culture is one where we can roundly criticise our political opponents and then go off and have a beer with them, nothing like what you are used to in Thailand.

[alex88]

If he doesn't already have nz citizenship then this case should get it for him as he will now be able to claim asylum in nz.

[rubl]

Pure stupidity to bring this case back in the limelight!!

Trying to prove, that they are faithful pawns??

You are correct.It is myopia of the first order for all the reasons previously rehearsed at length on this forum.

There is an interesting aspect however, namely the motivation (some would say the warped psychology) of those who pressed for action with the NZ Government.They are not presumably unintelligent so already know the request is dead in the water, and will further embarrass the country.So why precisely have they gone down this cul de sac?

Every chance your opinion is correct Jayboy.

Surely the Thai authorities would be familiar, or made themselves familiar, with the important clause in the New Zealand Extradition Act which specifies "An extraditable offence involves conduct that would be regarded as criminal had it occurred in New Zealand..."

Since we don't know what exactly was said and posting here what was said would be an LM offence in itself (plus a ban of course), it is difficult to say whether or not the 'offence' would be seen as such in NZ. If the offence came close to preaching revolution with a wee bit of red-shirt 'democratic' violence, the charge might stick in NZ.

[Basil B]

There is not a hope in hell of NZ agreeing to this. Similarly nor would Australia, Canada, UK, USA, any member of EU. Nor Japan. Their best chance for an extradition is if some 'fugitives' are in North Korea

For once I totally agree with you, these charges are of a political nature, but there again I would expect many of those countries listed to restrict his activities to be non political and low key while being a guest of theirs.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Basil B

[perriwinkle]

I say why don't just leave alone the Thai fugitives from justice who committed crimes (be it murder, felony of all types, etc..., according to the Thai laws), who ran away to take refuge in other countries. Let them be either burden or shining citizen of the country they flee to.

They certainly have to respect the laws of the adoptive country just like they're subjected to the Thai laws whether they like such laws or not, or take the consequences.

Why waste time and tax money on taking them back for justice? Taking care of the criminals inside the country, plus the many fugitives from justice from around the world who use Thailand as a hiding place to commit more crimes inside Thailand.

Those Thai fugitives know they can't and won't come back no matter which passport they carry. Assuming they know there's a red alert with their names and pictures on the list to be apprehended once they step inside the kingdom.

Edited June 16, 2015 by perriwinkle

[jayboy]

Pure stupidity to bring this case back in the limelight!!

Trying to prove, that they are faithful pawns??

You are correct.It is myopia of the first order for all the reasons previously rehearsed at length on this forum.

There is an interesting aspect however, namely the motivation (some would say the warped psychology) of those who pressed for action with the NZ Government.They are not presumably unintelligent so already know the request is dead in the water, and will further embarrass the country.So why precisely have they gone down this cul de sac?

Every chance your opinion is correct Jayboy.

Surely the Thai authorities would be familiar, or made themselves familiar, with the important clause in the New Zealand Extradition Act which specifies "An extraditable offence involves conduct that would be regarded as criminal had it occurred in New Zealand..."

Since we don't know what exactly was said and posting here what was said would be an LM offence in itself (plus a ban of course), it is difficult to say whether or not the 'offence' would be seen as such in NZ. If the offence came close to preaching revolution with a wee bit of red-shirt 'democratic' violence, the charge might stick in NZ.

It doesn't make any difference.The New Zealand government would not recognise the alleged offence anymore than it recognises voodoo or any other primitive behaviour.

[kimamey]

I sincerely hope N.Z. has the necessary balls to tell this regime where they can stick their archaic and repressive law......................

Some of the LM is something that would be highly illegal in every country....not only if it is about the King/President....I let it to your imagination what that might be.

But I have no idea what it was in this case. Other cases are known...

Not in my home country.

In the US, you can insult the head of State (the President) in the most explicit terms, 24 hours a day.

The repercussion will be that your friends may abandon you as a "whack job"; but there is no law against it as long as you do not make threats of violence.

I'm assuming that h90 was referring to threats of violence which as you both would be illegal.

It really is about time some people stopped hiding behind the monarchy and using it for their own ends. Since the king himself has stated that he has made mistakes and should be open to criticism, the LM laws and anyone who uses them against someone who makes statements critical of the king would seem to have contravened those laws as they are acting contrary to the wishes of the king.

[Thai at Heart]

Seeks to, eyes opportunity, urges, condones, supports.....all news paper talk for doing nothing.

[thesetat2013]

I sincerely hope N.Z. has the necessary balls to tell this regime where they can stick their archaic and repressive law......................

Some of the LM is something that would be highly illegal in every country....not only if it is about the King/President....I let it to your imagination what that might be.

But I have no idea what it was in this case. Other cases are known...

Not in my home country.

In the US, you can insult the head of State (the President) in the most explicit terms, 24 hours a day.

The repercussion will be that your friends may abandon you as a "whack job"; but there is no law against it as long as you do not make threats of violence.

Don't know where you lived before bit things have changed. You can't even insult a policeman in the US now without getting formally charged with a crime. You may be able to say a little bad about what you don't like buy just try to personally insult someone and it can be construed as a verbal attack and provocation not to mention other crimes depending on what was said.

[BSJ]

The law is the law...until it's changed. This numbnuts knew the LM law existed but still broke that law. If he gets sent back to LOS it's tough luck for him.

What I can't understand is.....why the he11 did he pick NZ??? Of all the countries in the world......NEW ZEALAND!

Edited June 16, 2015 by BSJ