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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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 Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:43 pm Post subject: Swiss jailed 10 years for insulting Thai royalty |
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CHIANG MAI – A Thai court sentenced a Swiss man to 10 years in jail on Thursday for defacing images of Thai royalty, a rare prison term for a foreigner convicted under the country's tough lese-majeste laws.
Oliver Rudolf Jufer, 57, was initially sentenced to 20 years for five acts of lese-majeste, but the judge reduced the term to take into account Jufer's guilty plea earlier this month.
Jufer was arrested in December in the northern city of Chiang Mai after black paint was sprayed on several portraits of 79-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whom many Thais regard as semi-divine, and Queen Sirikit.
Lese-majeste carries a penalty of three to 15 years in jail in Thailand, one of the few countries which strictly prosecutes anything deemed to demean the royal family. |
Could you imagine being 57 and having to do 10 years in a THAI prison? Still, the guy must have known what would happen, otherwise he wouldn't have done it. That's some pretty heavy handed censorship though... |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:01 am Post subject: |
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| I'm all for free speech but I'm also for using your brain when you are a tourist. |
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thebomb
Joined: 13 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:05 am Post subject: |
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| I would class him more as a resident than a tourist, it does state in the BBC on-line article that he has been living there for the past 10 years. |
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thebomb
Joined: 13 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:07 am Post subject: |
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BBC News Asia-pacific
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| Jufer, who had faced a maximum sentence of 75 years, has lived in Thailand for more than 10 years. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:31 am Post subject: |
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| khyber wrote: |
| I'm all for free speech but I'm also for using your brain when you are a tourist. |
I'm with you. If you move to a country and are going to insult their head of state/deity, pick a nation where that isn't a crime. |
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Vollrath
Joined: 29 May 2003
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:34 am Post subject: |
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funny how many ppl go to thailand to abuse drugs and prostitutes but this is the guy who gets put in jail...
oh well u play w/ matches u get burned |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:59 am Post subject: |
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A stupid thing to do but just for the record, the Thai King looks like a dork and his photography really isn't all that impressive.
It's a good thing Korea has no king. Thais are just like Koreans when it comes to trying to make something look so good that they end up looking like utter imbeciles. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 1:27 am Post subject: |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| Vollrath wrote: |
funny how many ppl go to thailand to abuse drugs and prostitutes but this is the guy who gets put in jail...
oh well u play w/ matches u get burned |
Well, lots of people in Thailand get arrested for drugs and face far worse prison terms. |
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tfunk
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:38 am Post subject: |
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Just to bring the whole conversation back to myself again...
I was in Thailand and I got a free cardboard King hat from Burger King so I was sitting outside in a drunken orgy of personal ecstacy when I started blessing passersby as if I was the King.
I woke up the next morning and realised what a dangerous, handsome man I'd been the night before. Talk about spiritual realisation! |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:40 am Post subject: |
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| Don't crumple, deface or step on the money in Thailand, either. It's got the king's face on it and is illegal. |
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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 6:23 am Post subject: |
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| If the guy lived there more than 10 days he should have known better. The Thais revere their king and queen. Still, 10 years is insane for such an act. Isn't the king around 80 now? He'll probably dead before the "criminal" is released. |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:25 am Post subject: |
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| There's more to it than the story. Don't forget that Thailand is ruled by a military dictatorship, one that has been using xenophobia of late to divert attention away from that fat. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Hollywoodaction wrote: |
| There's more to it than the story. Don't forget that Thailand is ruled by a military dictatorship, one that has been using xenophobia of late to divert attention away from that fat. |
Indeed. All the more reason I guess to not screw around with Thai law if you're a foreigner. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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| khyber wrote: |
| I'm all for free speech but I'm also for using your brain when you are a tourist. |
Or when you are a foreign resident working....eh khyber? |
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