An Australian man has been sentenced to 3 years in jail for insulting the Thai royal family. Thailand has strict lese majeste laws under which a person found guilty of insulting the Thai monarchy can face a sentence of up to 15 years.
The case of 41-year-old Harry Nicolaides is a curious one. Nicolaides worked as a university lecturer in Chiang Rai from 2003 to 2005 and would certainly have been aware of Thailand’s lese majeste laws. In 2005 Nicolaides self-published a book which, although it only sold a handful of copies, still came to the attention of the Thai authorities. Although full details are still unclear, it appears that it was just a short passage of text in the book that caused offence. The Australian national was detained in August 2008 as he waited in the departure lounge of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport for a flight back to Australia. Nicolaides was apparently unaware of the arrest warrant which had been issued more than 2 years earlier.
On Monday of this week, the Australian man was found guilty of insulting the Thai monarchy. The judge at the Criminal Court said of Nicolaides, ‘He has written a book that slandered the King, the Crown Prince and Thailand and the monarchy.’ The original prison sentence was 6 years, but was reduced to 3 years following a guilty plea. Nicolaides said he had, ‘unqualified respect for the King of Thailand’ and no insult was intended. The 41-year-old Australian has 30 days to appeal and his lawyer has already said he will be seeking a royal pardon
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