Friday, February 20, 2009

Writer Pardoned

Harry Nicolaides, who was convicted of les majeste for a passage in his 2005 novel "Verisimilitude" received a royal pardon and was deported from Thailand.

Although he was foolish to put such words to paper here, I am very glad that Mr. Nicolaides received the pardon. Prime Minister Abhisit has expressed concern that the les majeste laws are being misused, and in the past the King has said that it is permissible for people to criticize him.

PM Abhisit has a valid reason for his concern. I've read numerous articles in the paper where politicians and activists accuse their opponents of insulting the King. One politician was investigated because he was accused of offering commentary on the constitutional monarchy system.

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