Begin forwarded message:
> From: "Callinicos, Alex" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 14 janvier 2009 09:58:19 HNEC
> To: 'ESF' <[log in to unmask]>, "[log in to unmask]
> " <[log in to unmask]>, Project K <[log in to unmask]
> >
> Subject: [projet-k] Protest against Prosecution of Giles Ji
> Ungpakorn for Insulting Thai Monarchy
>
>
> I am writing to you about the prosecution of a leading critic of the
> recent coups in Thailand, Giles Ji Ungpakorn, for insulting the
> monarchy. This is a very serious offence in Thailand, which carries
> a potential sentence of 15 years. You can find much for information
> on Giles’s blog http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/. You will find below a
> protest letter that I am hoping to get published in the London
> Guardian, the Bangkok Post, and anywhere else possible. If you would
> like to put your name to the letter please email me.
>
>
>
> Alex Callinicos
>
> Professor of European Studies
>
> French Department
>
> King's College London
>
> Strand
>
> London WC2R 2LS
>
> Tel. +44 (0)20 7848 2110 (W)
>
> +44 (0) 7703 358 909 (M)
>
>
>
> We wish to express our deep concern at the decision of the Thai
> Police Special Branch to prosecute Associate Professor Giles Ji
> Ungpakorn,of the Political Science Faculty at Chulalongkorn
> University, with lèse majesté – that is, with insulting King
> Bhumibol. Mr Ungpakorn is a well-known commentator on Thai politics,
> widely quoted in the international media. The charge arises from his
> book A Coup for the Rich, published in 2007. In that book he
> criticized the coup of 19 September 2006, in which the military
> seized political power in Thailand. Mr Ungpakorn argued that the
> army, along with the rest of the Thai establishment, used the
> monarchy to legitimize its political interventions. This is the kind
> of analysis that political scientists make as a matter of course,
> but various bookshops withdrew A Coup for the Rich from circulation,
> forcing Mr Ungpakorn to make it available on the Internet.
>
>
>
> Now his academic freedom and basic citizenship rights have come
> under much more serious attack with this prosecution. Lèse majesté
> has fallen into disuse in most of the world as a relic of the pre-
> democratic past. Thailand is an exception. The Economist commented
> on 14 August 2008: 'The king said in 2005 that he could be
> criticised and was not afraid of this. But those posing as his
> majesty's protectors conveniently forget his words. So, despite
> their democratic institutions, Thais are not free to debate matters
> regarding their head of state, including appropriate limits on
> criticizing him.'
>
>
>
> Lèse majesté carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, and MPs from
> the government party headed by Abhisit Vejjajiva, which came to
> office thanks to the connivance of the army, want to increase this
> to 25 years. The prosecution of Mr Ungpakorn therefore represents
> the most fundamental attack on freedom of speech. We demand that the
> charges against him are unconditionally withdrawn.
>
>
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