And in Thailand today a Thai court has sentenced an Australian writer to three years in jail for defaming the crown prince. Rights groups are up in arms saying this is the latest in a slew of lese majeste cases that are stifling freedom of speech in the country.
Harry Nicolaides remained impassive as he heard the sentence given to him. It stemmed from his 2005 novel called Verisimilitude which was hardly a best seller. He only sold seven copies.
Nicolaides says he still did not know who had filed the police complaint about the novel. But on one Thai website it was referred to it as an uncompromising assault on the patrician values of the monarchy.
The judge said Nicolaides' confession had led to his sentence being reduced from six to three years.
[Harry Nicolaides, Writer]: "I wish my family the best."
[Reporter]:"How do you feel?"
[Harry Nicolaides, Writer]: "Dreadful"
He had been teaching English at a university in the northern city of Chiang Mai.
Nicolaides was arrested at a Bangkok airport on September 3 as he tried
to leave the country. He was unaware of an arrest warrant that was issued earlier in March.
Lese majeste, or insulting the monarchy, is a very serious offence in Thailand, where many people regard 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej as semi-divine. It is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Critics of the law say it is open to abuse since a complaint can be filed by anybody against anybody, no matter how minor the alleged disrespect.
