Democracies are supposed to be places where debate and criticism flow freely. As we often see, authoritarian rulers pretend to hold democratic principles but freely imprison and harass those who criticize them.
Thailand is a struggling democracy, often confronted with military coups, but even that does not explain the recent sentencing of author Harry Nicolaides.
Nicolaides wrote a book, “Verisimilitude,” that contained some gossip about Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn. Apparently, that is too much for the sensitive egos of the Thai royal family.
Nicoloaides was sentenced to six years in prison. The presiding judge declared: “He has written a book that slandered the king, the crown prince of Thailand and the monarchy.”
During his four months of pre-trial detention, Nicolaides was held in a cell with 40 other inmates. He described the situation as one of “unspeakable suffering.”
The Telegraph reported on the crime:
Nicolaides, who will now appeal to 81-year-old King Bhumibol for a pardon, was targeted amid a clampdown on the crime of lese majeste in the kingdom. His offence was a few lines in his self-published novel that speculated about the private life of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn. The book reportedly sold only seven copies.
Thailand has the strictest lese majeste laws in the world. “Insulting” the monarchy is punishable with between three and 15 years in jail. At least 32 cases are currently under investigation, a far higher number than usual.
The government has blocked 2,300 websites, YouTube videos and foreign publications. The government has grown increasingly intolerant of criticism of the monarchy.
The New York Times reported the reason for this crackdown.
“I think Thailand is trying to send a message to international media, to writers, to bloggers, to people who are putting material on the Internet that the royal family is out of bounds,” Andrew Walker, a fellow in the Asia-Pacific Program at Australian National University, said on ABC.
The monarchy is a unifying, stabilizing force in a country beset by coups and domestic turmoil. King Bhumibol Adulyadej is seen by Thais as semi-divine.
A website called Nicolaides book an “uncompromising assault on the patrician values of the monarchy.”
Last year, a Swiss man was also sentenced to a long prison term, but released after a month. There is hope Nicolaides sentence may end the same.
