Associate Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn will fight charges of les majesty over his academic book "A Coup for the Rich"
I have been summonsed to Pathumwan police station for questioning and the new date and time is at 10.00 am on Tuesday 20th January 2009. The summons was issued as a result of a charge filed by Special Branch Police Lt Col. Pansak Sasana-anund. I have been accused of les majesty. The charge arises from my book "A Coup for the Rich", published in 2007, just after the 19th September 2006 military coup.
I have now sold all 1000 copies of "A Coup for the Rich", but it is available to download from my blog http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/ and from the International Socialist Tendency website in the U.K. Just after publication, the book was withdrawn from sale by Chulalongkorn University bookshop and later by Thammasart University bookshop. This is a gross attack on academic freedom. I encourage people to read my book and judge for themselves whether I should face criminal charges over this book. Relevant passages can be found in Chapter 1, pages 15, 23-27 and Chapter 2. (files also attached)
My most recent academic paper on the Monarchy appears on my blog. It argues that the Monarchy is not all powerful and that political and military factions claim Royal legitimacy in order to boost their own power and interests. Their recent actions may be bringing the institution of the Monarchy into crisis because they created an image of the Monarchy being directly involved in politics. I presented a Thai version of this paper at the National Thai Political Science Conference at Chulalongkorn University in December 2008.
The Monarchy has been quoted and used by various political factions in Thailand to legitimise their actions. The most notable cases are the 19th September 2006 military coup and the illegal protests by the yellow-shirted P.A.D., which included violent protests and the shutting down the international airports. Les Majesty charges in Thailand are notorious for being used by different political factions to attack their opponents. Many believe that this law is actually counter-productive to defending the Monarchy. This is why it is very important that political scientists attempt to analyse the real role and nature of the Thai Monarchy in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy.
I am prepared to fight any les majesty charges in order to defend academic freedom, the freedom of expression and democracy in Thailand.
Since this accusation was filed by a Special Branch officer, the present Democrat Party Government should be questioned about its role in this and many other cases. The new Prime Minister has stated that he wants to see a firm crackdown on les majesty and many recent cases have been filed by the police.
Press Conference: Tues 13th Jan, 12.30, Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Political Science building 2 .--
Giles Ji Ungpakorn
Faculty of Political Science
Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok 10330, Thailand
+66-(0)813469481
UK mobile:+44-(0)7817034432
http://www.pcpthai.org/
http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/
see YOUTUBE videos by Giles53
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128 Academics, intellectuals and members of parliament from around the world call for charges against Giles Ji Ungpakorn to be dropped
128 academics from U.K, Canada, France, South Africa, Ireland, Australia, South Korea, Greece and the U.S.A., including those from Oxford University and SOAS London University, have signed an open letter calling for charges of lese majeste, made against Giles Ji Ungpakorn, to be dropped. Among those signing are also famous writers such as Susan George and China Miéville. The list also includes members of parliament from New Zealand and Britain.
A seperate petition in Thai and English, for the scrapping of all les majeste cases is being circulated and discussions are taking place among communities and citizens' groups throughout Thailand.
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.
1. Dr. Geoff Abbott, Newcastle University
2. Professor Gilbert Achcar, School of Oriental and African Studies, London
3. Dr Talat Ahmed, Goldsmiths, University of London
4. Dr Kieran Allen, University Collhe Dublin
5. Dr Sam Ashman, University of East London
6. Dr Miryam Aouragh, University of Oxford/University of Amsterdam
7. Hans Baer, University of Melbourne
8. Professor Abigail Bakan, Queen's University, Canada
9. Chris Bambery, Editor, Socialist Worker
10. Colin Barker, Manchester Metropolitan University (Emeritus)
11. Dr John Baxter, Open University
12. Dr Tom Behan, University of Kent
13. Professor Jacques Bidet, University of Paris 10 – Nanterre (Emeritus)
14. Dr Sue Blackwell, University of Birmingham
15. Professor Luc Boltanski, École des hautes études en sciences sociales
16. Professor Patrick Bond, University of KwaZulu-Natal
17. Helen Bowman, Manchester Metropolitan University
18. Pat Brady, Council for Academic Freedom and Academic Standards
19. Professor Dennis Brutus, University of KwaZulu-Natal
20. Professor Alex Callinicos, King's College London
21. Dr David Camfield, University of Manitoba
22. Mark Campbell, London Metropolitan University, National Executive Committee, Universities and College Union
23. Dr Steve Cannon, University of Sunderland
24. Joe Carolan, Editor, Socialist Aotearoa, New Zealand
25. Agger Carsten, Denmark
26. Jim Casey, Vice President, Fire Brigade Employees Union, New South Wales
27. Dr. John Charlton
30. Professor Simon Clarke, University of Warwick
31. Paul Coates, President, University of Melbourne Graduate Student Association
32. Dr Alejandro Colas, Birkbeck College University of London
33. Petros Constantinou,,Campaign GENOA 2001 Greece
34. Adrian Cousins, UNITE rep, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
35. James Cussens, University of York
36. Bernice Daly, National Executive Committee, Universities and College Union
37. Neil Davidson, University of Strathclyde
38. Dr Jonathan Davies, University of Warwick
40. Dr Andy Durgan, Barcelona University
41. James Eaden, Chesterfield College, National Executive Committee, Universities and College Union
42. Manfred Ecker, Vienna
43. Professor James Fairhead, University of Sussex
44. Dr Sue Ferguson, Wilfrid Laurier University
45. John Fernandes
46. George Galloway MP
47. Panos Garganas, National Technical University of Athens
48. Susan George
49. Lindsey German, Convenor, Stop the War Coalition (pc)
50. Professor Mike Gonzalez, University of Glasgow (Emeritus)
51. Dr Peter Goodwin, University of Westminster
52. Sarah Gregson, Vice President Academic, National Tertiary Education Union, University of New South Wales
53. Dr Phil Griffiths, University of Southern Queensland
54. Sylvia Hale, Member of Parliament, New South Wales
55. Professor Nigel Harris, University College London (Emeritus)
56. Professor Barbara Harriss-White, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford
57. Marion Hersh, University of Glasgow
58. Tom Hickey, University of Brighton, National Executive Committee, Universities and College Union
59. Brian Ingham, Richmond-upon-Thames College, National Executive Committee, Universities and College Union
60. Feyzi Ismail, School of Oriental and African Studies, London
61. Nick James, University of Leicester and UCU NEC
62. Professor Seongjin Jeong, Gyeongsang National University, South Korea
63. John Kaye, Member of Parliament, New South Wales
64. Paul Kellogg, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada
65. Dr Anna Laerke, Open University
66. Jens Laerke, United Nations, Nairobi
67. Councillor Michael Lavalette, Liverpool Hope University
68. Maeve Landman, National Executive Committee, Universities and College UnionMelanie 69. Lazarow, Secretary, National Tertiary Education Union, University of Melbourne
70. Dr Elizabeth Lawrence, National Executive Committee, Universities and College Union
71. Professor Michael Lebowitz, San Francisco University
72. Craig Lewis, National Executive Committee, Universities and College Union
73. Dr Nancy Lindisfarne, School of Oriental and African Studies, London (Emeritus)
74. Professor Domenico Losurdo, University of Urbino
75. Dr Steve Ludlam, University of Sheffield
76. Alan Maass, SocialistWorker.org, USA
77. Professor David McNally, York University, Toronto
78. Judith McVey, Coursework Education Officer, University of Melbourne Graduate
Student Association
79. Georges Menahem, University of Paris-13/Dalhousie University, Canada
80. China Miéville
81. Laura Miles, Bradford College
82. Dr Sally Mitchison, Consultant Psychiatrist
83. Professor Colin Mooers, Ryerson University
84. Dr Carlo Morelli, University of Dundee
85. Dr Tim Morris
86. Pablo Mukherjee, University of Warwick
87. Antony Nanson, Bath Spa University
88. Dr Jonathan Neale, Bath Spa University
89. Jakob Nerup, National Board, Red-Green Alliance, Canada
90. Professor Alan Norrie, King's College London
91. Allison O'Toole, Joint Queer Officer, University of Melbourne Graduate
Student Association
92. Dr George Paizis, University College London
93. Jamie Parker, Mayor of Leichhardt, New South Wales
94. Dr John Parrington, Worcester College Oxford
95. Dr Diana Paton, University of Newcastle
96. David Pejoski, Joint Queer Officer, University of Melbourne Graduate Student
Association
97. Professor Malcolm Povey, University of Leeds, National Executive Committee, Universities and College Union
98. Dr Nat Queen, University of Birmingham
99. Maloti Ray, Research officer, University of Melbourne Graduate Student
Association
100. Lee Rhiannon, Member of Parliament, New South Wales
101. Dr. Elaheh Rostami-Povey, School of Oriental and African Studies, London
102. Professor Alfredo Saad Filho, School of Oriental and African Studies, London
103. Dr Alison Sealey, University of Birmingham
104. Dr Alan Sears, Ryerson University, Toronto
105. Dr Claude Serfat, Université de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
106. Anwar Shah, International Student Officer, University of Melbourne Graduate
Student Association
107. Yiannis Sifakakis, Stop the War Coalition Greece
108. Sasha Simic, USDAW Shop Steward, Central Books (pc)
109. Professor Beverley Skeggs, Goldsmiths, University of London
110. Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM)
111. Professor Colin Sparks, University of Westminster
112. Maria Styllou, editor, Socialism from Below (Greece)
113. Dr. Viren Swami, University of Westminster
114. J.G. Taylor, Leeds Metropolitan University
115. Jennifer Toomey, University of Newcastle
116. Dr Alberto Toscano, Goldsmiths, University of London
117. Charles-André Udry, Editions Page deux, Switzerland
118. Universities and College Union, Branch Committee, University of Dundee
119. Turkan Uzun, Antikapitalist, Turkey
120. Professor Kees van der Pijl, University of Sussex
121. Vegard Velle, member of national executive committee, Red Party, Norway
122. Sean Vernell, City & Islington College, National Executive Committee, Universities and College Union
123. Christine Vié, Manchester Metropolitan University
124. Dr. Max Wallis, Cardiff University
125. Dr Vron Ware, Open University
126. Tony Williams, Activities Officer, University of Melbourne Graduate Student
Association
127. Dr Jim Wolfreys, King's College London
128. David Streckfuss, Khon Kaen University THAILAND
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Please sign this open letter and ask others to sign (there is a Thai version going round)
Stop the use of "lese majesty" in Thailand. Defend freedom of speech
We, the undersigned, oppose the use of lese majeste in Thailand in order to prevent freedom of speech and academic freedom. We demand that the government cease all proceedings in lese majeste cases.
The 19th September 2006 military coup in Thailand claimed "Royal legitimacy" in order to hide the authoritarian intentions of the military junta. Lese Majeste charges have not been used to protect "Thai Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy" as claimed. The charges are used against people who criticised the coup and disagree with the present destruction of democracy. They are used to create a climate of fear and censorship.
One obvious case is that of Associate Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn, from the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University. He is facing Lese Majeste charges for writing a book "A Coup for the Rich", which criticised the 2006 military coup. (Read the book at http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/). Others who have been accused of Lese Majeste are former government minister Jakrapop Penkae, who asked a question at the Foreign Correspondent's Club in Bangkok, about exactly what kind of Monarchy we have in Thailand. There is also the case of Chotisak Oonsung, a young student who failed to stand for the King's anthem in the cinema. Apart from this there are the cases of Da Topedo and Boonyeun Prasertying. In addition to those who opposed the coup, the BBC correspondent Jonathan Head, an Australia writer names Harry Nicolaides, social critic Sulak Sivaraksa are also facing charges. The latest person to be thrown into jail and refused bail is Suwicha Takor, who is charged with Lese Majeste for surfing the internet. The Thai Minister of Justice has called for a blanket ban on reporting these cases in the Thai media. The main stream Thai media are obliging. Thus we are seeing a medieval style witch hunt taking place in Thailand with "secret" trials in the courts. The Justice Ministry is also refusing to publish figures of lese majeste cases.
We call for the abolition of les majeste laws in Thailand and the defence of freedom and democracy.
Signed.....
Please send your full name to : Giles.LesseMajeste@gmail.com , ji.ungpakorn@gmail.com
