Swiss man jailed for Thai insult

[George66]

Swiss man jailed for Thai insult

 

Oliver Jufer has lived in Thailand for more than a decade

A Swiss man has been jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to charges of insulting the Thai king.

 

Oliver Jufer, 57, was arrested last December after drunkenly spray-painting portraits of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

 

Earlier this month he pleaded guilty to five charges under Thailand's draconian lese majeste law.

 

Judge Phitsanu Tanbukalee said that Jufer received a reduced sentence because he had admitted his guilt.

 

"This is a serious crime, and he was sentenced to four years for each of five counts, for a total of 20 years," he said.

 

"Because he confessed, the court has reduced his sentence to 10 years."

 

Jufer is believed to be the first foreigner ever imprisoned for the offence.

 

Others have been charged in the past, but later expelled from the country rather than jailed.

 

Sensitive issue

 

Jufer, who had faced a maximum sentence of 75 years, has lived in Thailand for more than 10 years.

 

KING BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ

 

Born in 1927, ascended throne in 1946

World's longest-serving current head of state

Official powers are limited, but wields enormous influence because of popular backing

Widely believed to have given backing to 2006 military coup

 

 

Case shows monarchy fears

 

He was recorded on surveillance cameras defacing the portraits on the king's 79th birthday.

 

Earlier he had tried to buy alcohol but been refused, since such sales are sometimes banned on important days. King Bhumibol, the world's longest-serving current head of state, is a very popular figure in Thailand.

 

The case has highlighted strict laws in Thailand which forbid any criticism of the monarchy.

 

Such is the sensitivity of the issue, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok, that it is receiving little attention in the Thai media.

 

Most Thais feel a deep reverence for their monarch. But they also fear discussing the institution because of the severe penalties for criticising members of the royal family.

 

Jufer has a month to lodge an appeal against the sentence, our correspondent adds, but his best hope now is probably a royal pardon.

[conextim]

20 years in prison? Ouch!

 

I respect the King 20 times more than I did yesterday.

[LaaMok]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6505237.stm

[Chris Pattaya]

It just goes to show what a bunch of crazy fucked-up people the Thais are.

Good grief, they let Taksin give away land to the Cambodians to sweeten a telecommunications deal and steal billions and billions of dollars but lock up an old guy for spray-painting a picture.

Madness.

If the King was any sort of a man he'd shrug his be-ermined shoulders, laugh and buy the guy a pint before letting him go immediately. You must have some sort of ego to imprison a man for that.

Mind you, when I found out the the royal dogs have a specially built air-conditioned house to live in while thousands and thousands of Thais live in squalor under the bridges of Bangkok I wanted to weep...oh, and here is my favourite.

The King's dog, Tong Daeng, is afforded the same honorific as a human, being known as KHUN Tong Daeng, when mentioned by the sycophantic Thai media.

Khin Tong Daeng.

Bet he owns shares in Siam Cement, too.

If I was Thai I'd be manning the barricades.

[Guest Qwert06]

It just goes to show what a bunch of crazy fucked-up people the Thais are.

Good grief, they let Taksin give away land to the Cambodians to sweeten a telecommunications deal and steal billions and billions of dollars but lock up an old guy for spray-painting a picture.

Madness.

If the King was any sort of a man he'd shrug his be-ermined shoulders, laugh and buy the guy a pint before letting him go immediately. You must have some sort of ego to imprison a man for that.

Mind you, when I found out the the royal dogs have a specially built air-conditioned house to live in while thousands and thousands of Thais live in squalor under the bridges of Bangkok I wanted to weep...oh, and here is my favourite.

The King's dog, Tong Daeng, is afforded the same honorific as a human, being known as KHUN Tong Daeng, when mentioned by the sycophantic Thai media.

Khin Tong Daeng.

Bet he owns shares in Siam Cement, too.

If I was Thai I'd be manning the barricades.

 

Personaly i have no sympathy for the bloke. He lived in Thailand for 10 years so he is well aware of the way the King is loved in the country.

 

We all know it is a fucked up country but its THEIR country and we have no rite to say how they should run it. Let thailand be Thailand.

 

hell mend him.

[BorisBroomhead]

Hopefully this was a show put on by the Thais to say that we don't tolerate this & they will let him go back home shortly.

Edited March 30, 2007 by BorisBroomhead

[hazze]

Personaly i have no sympathy for the bloke. He lived in Thailand for 10 years so he is well aware of the way the King is loved in the country.

 

We all know it is a fucked up country but its THEIR country and we have no rite to say how they should run it. Let thailand be Thailand.

 

hell mend him.

 

I've got to agree.

Its give and take in LOS. They very generous and friendly in some areas, other areas like politics, king and budda are just a no go.

If someone living there for 10 years hadn't picked up on that...

[The Deported One]

The guy knew better butI think 10 years is a little much

[Braveheart]

Considering what the punishement could have been I figure he got off very lightly, he could have been sentenced to far byond his natural life expectancy although for all intents and purposes he likely has been anyway. That is likely why they reduced the sentence to 10 years.

[The Deported One]

Considering what the punishement could have been I figure he got off very lightly, he could have been sentenced to far byond his natural life expectancy although for all intents and purposes he likely has been anyway. That is likely why they reduced the sentence to 10 years.

 

good point Bill!

[billycotton]

I believe when your in another country you should respect their ways of doing things so this guy deserves no compassion in my book.

Its idiots like him who give the rest of us a bad name.

Edited March 30, 2007 by billycotton

[Chris Pattaya]

Delighted to see on the ITV news this evening that South Park, the cartoon, aired an episode in the States, tonight, featuring a self-harming Elizabeth 2.

Her Gracious Majesty was seen at the end of the episode blowing her own brains out with a handgun after failing to end the American revolution with an invasion of British troops.

The news item was presented in a giggly, aren't-we-naughty, bet-she's-not-amused way.

Nobody was imprisoned as a result.

Makes you proud to be British.

Edited March 30, 2007 by Chris Pattaya