Thailand has some of the world's strictest lèse majesté laws.
|
|
Yet this time a small act of lèse-majesté slipped through.
|
|
Thailand's lèse-majesté law is possibly the strictest criminal-defamation law anywhere.
|
|
The lèse-majesté law carries a maximum jail term of 15 years.
|
|
Thailand has some of the strictest lèse majesté laws in the world.
|
|
A refurbished lèse-majesté law was used to hammer dissenters of all stripes.
|
|
Moreover, Thailand's lèse-majesté law is an extension of the country's libel laws.
|
|
In this case, however, complying with Thailand's lèse-majesté is very much deliberate.
|
|
He demanded loyalty of the F.B.I. director he subsequently fired for lèse-majesté.
|
|
Thailand has some of the world's strictest lèse-majesté laws, criminalizing insults to the monarchy.
|
|
His death sparked a string of arrests and mob justice linked to violations of lèse majesté.
|
|
He also began enforcing the law of lèse-majesté, muzzling any criticism of the royal family.
|
|
Strict lèse majesté laws promise three to 15 years in prison for those critical of the royals.
|
|
Offenders can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for each count of lèse-majesté.
|
|
And more than 100 people have been arrested under lèse-majesté laws since the junta took power.
|
|
A strict lèse-majesté law prohibits defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir-apparent or regent.
|
|
The notion of majesty depends on the taboo against lèse-majesté: treating one's sovereign as a familiar.
|
|
"Faced with a case of lèse-majesté, the Red Guide has responded with a beheading," he said.
|
|
In early 2012, he was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for lèse-majesté.
|
|
The military junta that is now ruling the country has deployed strict lèse-majesté laws against its critics.
|
|
This month security forces arrested Prawet Prapanukul, a human-rights lawyer best known for defending lèse-majesté suspects.
|
|
Royals should speak out against the lèse-majesté law (which King Bhumibol has already once condemned, in 2005).
|
|
Thailand lèse-majesté laws effectively prevent citizens from openly discussing anything to do with members of the monarchy.
|
|
Critics of the lèse-majesté law, known as Article 112, say it is used to silence political dissidents.
|
|
Thailand's Lèse majesté law, based on Thai Criminal Code section 112, protects the royal family from criticism or defamation.
|
|
He risks a record 150 years in jail if convicted of all ten counts of lèse-majesté he faces.
|
|
One of those charged with lèse-majesté is Sulak Sivaraksa, an 84-year-old social critic and Buddhist campaigner.
|
|
The president essentially has accused Mr. Brennan of lèse majesté — the crime of criticizing the monarch, tantamount to treason.
|
|
After all, the junta's abusive application of the lèse-majesté laws risks undermining the prestige of the royal family.
|
|
Mr. Chucheep is among the exiles charged with lèse-majesté who were the most wanted by the Thai authorities.
|
|
A conviction for lèse-majesté, or insulting the monarchy, carries a penalty of three to 15 years in prison.
|
|
I'm often asked what it's like living under military rule and the lèse-majesté laws that are ferociously enforced.
|
|
Inside Thailand, the strict lèse-majesté laws prevent citizens from openly discussing any details of the new king's life.
|
|
Pongsak Sriboonpeng's sentence was said then to have been the heaviest-known sentence so far for a lèse-majesté case.
|
|
In place for over a century, the lèse majesté law is meant to protect Thai royals from insult or threat.
|
|
Europeans may laugh at Thailand's lèse-majesté laws—a Thai was recently prosecuted for being sarcastic about the king's dog.
|
|
Political activists and human rights defenders say the lèse majesté law has been used as a tool to jail opponents.
|
|
Thailand has very strict lèse-majesté laws that can convict anyone who insults or makes fun of the Thai royal family.
|
|
From 2000 to 2012, the year before Queen Beatrix went into retirement, 16 people were prosecuted under the lèse-majesté law.
|
|
Human rights group FIDH reported that the total number of people arrested under lèse majesté following the coup passed 100 last month.
|
|
The military junta that runs the country is enforcing the draconian and anachronistic lèse-majesté law with greater relish than its predecessors.
|
|
The so-called lèse-majesté law currently on the books dates from that era, and took its current form in the 1880s.
|
|
The country has strict lèse-majesté laws, which means it's illegal to insult, defame, or threaten any member of the royal family.
|
|
Thailand's strict lèse-majesté laws make it a crime to insult the monarchy, an offense that includes a surprising number of activities.
|
|
Since the coup, all lèse majesté cases have been held in closed military courts, where defense lawyers are unable to access evidence.
|
|
Perhaps more significant, he has deprived the military of one of its main tools of repression: Thailand's extremely severe lèse-majesté law.
|
|
Heineken is making a big push into Brazil and Colombia, which would once have been considered an act of lèse-majesté against ABI.
|
|
The clue "Injured: Fr." hints at legal injury, and the answer is LÈSE, as in LÈSE-majesté, an offense against a sovereign power.
|
|
The rough-and-tumble of democratic politics has always been rife with classical call-outs and far more egregious forms of lèse-majesté.
|
|
The minister of justice has condoned royalist vigilantism, and the authorities have opened a series of new investigations into supposed incidents of lèse-majesté.
|
|
Even better would be if King Vajiralongkorn helped foster a less confrontational political climate by pardoning those convicted of lèse-majesté in recent years.
|
|
More seriously, consider Thailand's lèse-majesté laws, under which even mocking the king's dog can land you a lengthy stay at the Bangkok Hilton.
|
|
Thailand also has stringent lèse-majesté laws that criminalize insults to the monarchy, and prosecutions of this crime have increased significantly in recent years.
|
|
Thailand's "lèse majesté" laws make it illegal to "defame, insult, or threaten" a royal, which could hinder opposing parties' ability to campaign against the princess.
|
|
In Thailand, with its strict lèse–majesté laws, tourists have been warned about posting derogatory comments about the king, which can result in harsh punishments.
|
|
Any Thai may report an instance of lèse-majesté, and the authorities invariably act, scared that going soft on suspects might itself be a crime.
|
|
Taking a cue from General Sarit, the Prayuth administration has arrested scores of people on lèse-majesté charges, designating itself as the throne's ultimate guardian.
|
|
The country also has strict lèse-majesté laws, which makes it a criminal offence to insult, defame, or threaten any member of the royal family.
|
|
Thailand's strict lèse-majesté laws make it a crime to insult the monarchy, and violators can be sentenced to 15 years or more in prison.
|
|
Censors have embarked on a fresh effort to block local and foreign websites that carry criticism of him, a grave crime under Thailand's lèse-majesté laws.
|
|
To mock even his dog was to invite prosecution for lèse-majesté, which carries a prison sentence of three to 15 years for each individual slight.
|
|
The country's fierce lèse-majesté law promises between three and 15 years in prison for insulting "the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent".
|
|
On Friday, a Bangkok military court convicted the 34-year-old of lèse-majesté for posting photos and videos of the Thai royal family on Facebook.
|
|
"I don't really have much hope for change on this matter, especially because lèse majesté is such a particular issue and particular to Thailand as well."
|
|
In what seemed to be a concession to modern sensibilities, Vajiralongkorn, according to newspaper reports, has ordered an end to prosecutions under the lèse-majesté laws.
|
|
They also expect to be treated like kings, lionized as job creators and heroes of prosperity, and consider any criticism an unforgivable act of lèse-majesté.
|
|
Out of the 68 cases of lèse majesté, 21 involved content posted on Facebook, including five cases of people busted for things they'd told friends on Messenger.
|
|
Social media censorship is rampant — Facebook recently faced a countrywide ban because of content deemed to violate Thailand's draconian laws of "lèse majesté" (insults to the monarchy).
|
|
Thailand has been criticized for its use of lèse majesté and other censorship strategies since the military seized control of the government via a coup three years ago.
|
|
At least 105 people have been detained or are serving prison sentences for lèse-majesté, compared with just five under the elected government the junta overthrew in 2014.
|
|
Hundreds of others have been charged with a range of offenses, including lèse-majesté and violating the Computer Crime Act, which rights groups say are politically motivated prosecutions.
|
|
A well-known academic, Sulak Sivaraksa, remains under investigation for several instances of lèse-majesté, including questioning whether a 16th-century battle involving a Thai king really took place.
|
|
King Vajiralongkorn has appropriated the old parliament building, which stands on royal property, for some unspecified purpose that, under the country's harsh lèse-majesté laws, no one dares question.
|
|
Lèse-majesté law subjects anyone who "defames, insults or threatens the king the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent" to a jail term of three to 2000 years.
|
|
The arrest was apparently the first under the country's tough lèse-majesté law since King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun took the throne on Thursday, succeeding his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
|
|
In the not-to-distant future, a secret algorithm originally designed to sell you novelty hats will probably be the one imprisoning you for lèse-majesté against The Benevolent Zuck.
|
|
He was charged with two counts of violating the lèse-majesté law — one for the king, and the other for the dog — which could land him 32 years in jail.
|
|
That might not be enough, however: an Australian author unwittingly fell foul of lèse-majesté for writing a novel about a flawed, fictional prince that reportedly sold only seven copies.
|
|
Thailand's lèse-majesté law subjects anyone who "defames, insults or threatens the king the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent" to a jail term of three to 15 years.
|
|
Maha Vajiralongkorn is likely shielded from those rumors in Thailand, which has strict lèse-majesté laws, which forbid people to insult, defame, or threaten any member of the royal family.
|
|
Reporting on the succession or the royal family is limited by strict lèse-majesté laws, which impose harsh sentences on anyone who defames or insults the King or senior royals.
|
|
In 2008, a man in Thailand was charged with lèse-majesté — offending the dignity of the monarch — for not standing as the royal anthem was played in a movie theater.
|
|
Human Rights Watch said Saturday that the military junta in Thailand had "arbitrarily and aggressively" used the lèse-majesté laws to prosecute people for any speech deemed critical of the monarchy.
|
|
But Blum-Dumontet says she's been told it's actually the sheer volume of cases being brought for lèse majesté that's responsible for the change; they were simply overwhelming the military courts.
|
|
In 2014 Srirasmi was stripped of her royal title and nine of her relatives were arrested for lèse-majesté on charges that they had abused their connections with the Crown Prince.
|
|
And the regime has applied Thailand's strict lèse-majesté laws with ferocity, arresting people for the slightest perceived insult to the dignity of the king, his family or even his pet dog.
|
|
The palace might attempt to speak out more plainly against the most egregious abuses of the lèse-majesté law (rumours have swirled that a large number of pardons may be granted soon).
|
|
Strict lèse-majesté laws, which prohibit insulting or defaming members of the royal family, have been interpreted broadly by the authorities and have long stifled public discussion of the succession in Thailand.
|
|
But then Tony wouldn't cooperate with the second phase, during which Margaret required that nonroyals who'd just been trapped into committing lèse-majesté be swatted for flouting the prerogatives she actually treasured.
|
|
The Prayuth government has invoked liberally Thailand's draconian lèse-majesté laws against critics of the throne — or the military — sending a record number of ordinary citizens to jail for record-long sentences.
|
|
A Thai man has been sentenced to 35 years in jail for Facebook posts he made that insulted the royal family, in the country's harshest sentence yet under its strict lèse-majesté laws.
|
|
Notably, the junta has made draconian use of Thailand's law on lèse-majesté, which provides for long prison terms for anyone deemed to have spoken ill of the king, queen or heir-apparent.
|
|
On Saturday, human rights activists called Ms. Patnaree's arrest a day earlier a "new low" for Thailand, which has increased prosecutions under the lèse-majesté law since the military took power in 2014.
|
|
He was a man of sober, serious mien, often isolated in his palaces, protected by the most stringent of lèse-majesté laws, which effectively prevent almost any public discussion of the royal family.
|
|
It has barred public gatherings of more than five people, for example, and used existing lèse-majesté laws to aggressively prosecute anything — including Facebook posts — that it deems offensive to Thailand's powerful monarchy.
|
|
Lèse-majesté, a noun that means a crime committed against a sovereign power, or in a second definition, an offense violating the dignity of a ruler as the representative of a sovereign power.
|
|
In the first half of 573, Facebook restricted 285 pieces of content, almost all of which were alleged to violate local lèse-majesté laws, according to the company's latest transparency report released on Friday.
|
|
It originated in the offense of lèse-majesté—meaning an insult to the dignity of a reigning sovereign—which was included in the penal code of the German Reich at its foundation in 1871.
|
|
Criticism of the royal family and royal institution is a serious offense in Thailand, and the number of such lèse-majesté cases has multiplied since the country returned to military rule three years ago.
|
|
Takorn Tantasith, secretary general of Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, told reporters on Tuesday that 131 Facebook pages that were deemed to violate computer crimes or lèse-majesté laws had not yet been removed.
|
|
The strongly royalist military has zealously enforced Thailand's abhorrent lèse-majesté law, going so far as to jail citizens for liking Facebook posts critical of the king, or even not sufficiently condemning such online comments.
|
|
More than 173 people spent some time in jail in June for lèse-majesté; they included Thais accused of defaming the royals in a student play, scribbling on toilet walls and speaking unguardedly in a taxi.
|
|
There is no proof that the queen (pictured) ever really existed, and she definitely falls outside the scope of Thailand's law on lèse-majesté, which bars criticism only of the reigning king, queen, heir apparent and regent.
|
|
It may also be a gauge of how aggressively the junta plans to enforce an existing lèse-majesté law — which makes it a crime to insult the king, the queen or the crown prince — under new leadership.
|
|
The reverence for the king has long been enforced by the country's lèse-majesté laws, which outlaw "defaming, insulting, or threatening" of a member of the royal family — including, for example, "Liking" that mall video on Facebook.
|
|
In the past internet firms would ignore requests from governments that sought to censor what people elsewhere saw online, for example requests originating in Thailand, with its stifling lèse-majesté laws that ban all criticism of its king.
|
|
Thailand According to reports by the BBC and Reuters, in 2013, a Thai comedian and activist was jailed for two years under the country's lèse majesté laws, which make it illegal to insult the dignity of a leader.
|
|
In a country that reveres the monarchy, and imposes strict lèse-majesté laws against those who do not, 13m Thais paid their respects to the late king as he lay in state, many prostrating themselves before his body.
|
|
Notably, the NCPO has come down hard on acts seen to offend the dignity of the monarchy — a "crime" known as lèse majesté — with one man threatened with decades in prison for insulting the king's dog on Facebook.
|
|
President Trump has threatened to cut off "hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and support" in response to perceived Palestinian lèse-majesté after his decision to take Jerusalem "off the table" by recognizing it as Israel's capital.
|
|
A Thai man and woman were charged with lèse-majesté — offending the dignity of the monarch — after not standing as the anthem was played in a movie theater in September 2007, according to the United States State Department.
|
|
Identified only as Wichai, he is alleged to have published 10 photos, videos and comments on the social network that violate Thailand's strict lèse majesté regulations that outlaw criticism of the royal family, according to free speech group iLaw.
|
|
In the two years following the coup, 527 people were arrested, 167 were tried in military court, and 68 were charged with lèse majesté, according to iLaw, a non-profit organization tracking abuses against freedom of expression in Thailand.
|
|
But it was only the latest in a long string of embarrassing stories which Thais—censored by an archaic lèse-majesté law which allows long jail terms for people who speak ill of the royals—may share only in a whisper.
|
|
This description has now been changed to include a disclaimer that there may be severe consequences for tourists if they violate North Korea's strict "lèse-majesté laws," which are laws against offending the dignity of a sovereign or a state.
|
|
Bannon's exit was occasioned by an act of lèse-majesté against Trump: He was indiscreet enough to tell journalist Michael Wolff that it was "treasonous" for Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. to meet with Kremlin-connected lawyer during the presidential campaign.
|
|
Facebook's website says that, after requests from the Thai Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, it restricted 40 pieces of content from last July to December that reportedly violated lèse-majesté laws, up from 10 in the previous six months.
|
|
In particular, under the crown prince the colossal prison sentences presently being handed to those convicted of lèse-majesté—a law which in practice is used to chill discussion of all sorts of taboo topics—will only look more abhorrent and absurd.
|
|
As it was, the army had been using lèse-majesté and other laws to suppress all manner of inconvenient debate, over the incompetence of the ruling junta, say, or shortcomings of the illiberal constitution it foisted on the country earlier this year.
|
|
Politicians and pundits could not speak clearly about the princess's political ambitions, for fear of crossing the poorly demarcated boundary between insight and insult under the vague but harsh lèse-majesté law, which protects the royal family from even the faintest criticism.
|
|
The activist's mother, Patnaree Chankij, 40, who works as a maid, will be tried by a military court under Thailand's lèse-majesté law, which makes it a crime to insult the long-reigning King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the queen or the crown prince.
|
|
" Thai society is apparently attracted to Naziism and swastikas, but with "next to no knowledge or interest in their history," said David Streckfuss, a Thailand-based scholar and the author of the book "Truth on Trial in Thailand: Defamation, Treason and Lèse-Majesté.
|
|
The government, which seized power in 2014 and delayed an election planned for this year, has charged at least 77 people with lèse-majesté, 22 with sedition and 120 for violating an order forbidding public discussion of a proposed referendum to give it more power.
|
|
Little flexibility is evident, however, in the enforcement of Thailand's strict lèse-majesté law, which in practice criminalises all but the most banal analysis of the palace's influence, and which can make it risky to intimate that esteem for royalty is uneven and nuanced.
|
|
Thailand's lèse-majesté law prevents criticism of the country's royal family, and it looks like it is being used to suppress postings from a number of high-profile users who are writing about the transition to a new king, including journalist Andrew MacGregor Marshall.
|
|
As for the lèse-majesté law, despite the king's unease, he was not in a position to change it, as legislative power lies absolutely with Parliament, and the law was a reflection of the majority of Thais' refusal to tolerate any criticism of their beloved king.
|
|
And thanks to their armies of lawyers, editors and insurance underwriters, they are able to make the news available without falling afoul of new rules prohibiting certain kinds of speech — including everything from Saudi blasphemy rules to Austria's ban on calling politicians "fascists" to Thailand's stringent lèse-majesté rules.
|
|
"Do dogs have blue blood now?" he said in December, reacting to the news that a man had been charged with making fun of the king's dog and was facing up to 15 years of imprisonment, under the country's lèse majesté law, which punishes anyone who criticizes the king or his family.
|
|
"Do dogs have blue blood now?" he said in December, reacting to the news that a man had been charged with making fun of the king's dog and was facing up to 212 years of imprisonment, under the country's lèse majesté law, which punishes anyone who criticizes the king or his family.
|
|
Although details of his extravagant and controversial lifestyle were widely reported outside of Thailand when he was crown prince, his subjects for the most part remain oblivious, thanks in no small part to the country's strict lèse-majesté laws, which effectively prevent citizens from openly discussing any details of the new king's life.
|
|
In Thailand it frequently deletes posts critical of the royal family under the country's strict lèse majesté laws; in the Philippines the company is accused of helping the regime of strongman Rodrigo Duterte; and in Myanmar Facebook has been accused by the U.N. of facilitating ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims by failing to stop the spread of hate speech.
|
|
According to a new report released Monday by the human rights watchdog group Privacy International, the information being gathered is helping Thai police bring charges of "lèse majesté" — a long-standing law in Thailand in which anyone who "defames, insults, or threatens" the top members of the royal family faces s prison term of up to 15 years.
|
|
In Thailand it frequently deletes posts critical of the royal family under the country's strict lèse majesté laws; in the Philippines the company is accused of helping the regime of Rodrigo Duterte; and in Cambodia opposition leader Sam Rainsy has filed a lawsuit against Facebook to force them to reveal how closely they work with the authoritarian regime of prime minister Hun Sen.
|
|
Editorial He was a curious amalgam of modern and feudal: an American-born, Swiss-educated king who could not be criticized under Thailand's stern lèse-majesté laws; an accomplished sailor, painter and saxophonist who once jammed with Benny Goodman, but before whom his subjects had to prostrate themselves; a constitutional monarch with limited powers who commanded a vast fortune and was accorded almost divine status; a head of state whose reign was punctuated by a progression of bad governments and coups, yet was loved by his countrymen.
|
|
Prayuth Chan-ocha, the prime minister, surprised the nation on Thursday when he told reporters that the prince had decided to wait until the "appropriate time" to ascend the throne, which is still replete with the ancient pageantry and extreme formality made famous by the musical "The King and I." What details are known of the crown prince's life are whispered and passed along furtively on social media in Thailand, where the military government, enforcing a strict lèse-majesté law, has sentenced dozens of people to long prison terms for offending the monarchy.
|
|