S.O.S. Urgent appeal for Harry Nicolaides!
by
Christianna Loupa*
christiannaloupa.blogspot.com
In
a two-speed world, in some countries freedom of speech is considered as a
crime, separation of Powers is unknown and real distribution of justice
seems to remain an unfulfilled dream in the imagination of the bold.
Unfortunately,
Harry Nicolaides, a Greek- Cypriot origin Australian journalist, writer
and English language instructor, has managed to get himself arrested, by a
rigid totalitarian regime, apparently oblivious to the extreme peril he'd
placed himself in after the publication of his book “Verisimilitude. Is
the truth, the truth?” Nicolaides was arrested in Bangkok airport on 31st
August and detained ever since in Bangkok Remand Prison, on a charge of
“Lèse
Majesté”, pursuant to the Thai Penal Code.
As
a matter of fact, the writer is accused of offending the Prince, in his
2005 novel, developing in Thailand, which was printed and published there
in seventy copies.
Here
is the controversial excerpt:
“From
King Rama to the Crown Prince, the nobility was renowned for their
romantic entanglements and intrigues. The Crown Prince had many wives
“major and minor “with a coterie of concubines for entertainment. One
of his recent wives was exiled with her entire family, including a son
they conceived together, for an undisclosed indiscretion. He subsequently
remarried with another woman and fathered another child. It was rumoured
that if the prince fell in love with one of his minor wives and she
betrayed him, she and her family would disappear with their name, familial
lineage and all vestiges of their existence expunged forever.”
As
Monarchy is one Thai institution all sides claim to be loyal to above all
else, his book is considered to be “a trenchant commentary on the
political and social life of contemporary Thailand”.
“Verisimilitude” was withdrawn and a warrant was issued last March, of
which Harry was completely unaware, until his last visit to Thailand, when
he was arrested
as he was about to board a flight home to Melbourne,
In
the meantime, the writer has been refused three bail applications, for
fear of escaping or committing the same “crime” again (!), there is no
official charge brought against him yet, while the date of the trial is
still unknown.
“Several
months may pass till an official charge is brought against him. For the
time being, he is suffering under intolerable conditions”, stressed his
brother, Fotis, who managed to visit him in Bangkok. Nobody is allowed to
see Harry, who, although he is not a drug smuggler or gunrunner, he is
locked in the same cell with eighty nine other prisoners, many of them
suffering from tuberculosis and staring at him angrily.
“I've
been getting icy stares from men covered in tattoos,” he said during his
interview to “The Times” of 5/9. “On the first night I would have
committed suicide if I'd had the means ... I want to immediately apologize
to the Royal Family for my reckless choice of words. I want to write a
letter of apology, with the greatest humility.”
In
the beginning, the writer was obliged to sleep with a blanket on the
floor, then his brother managed, with the help of the Australian Embassy,
to provide him with a mattress.
Moreover,
in the moving letter, that Nicolaides sent to his elderly parents, he
pointed out that his food and water is usually stolen, he suffers from a
seizure and fever, he is unable to sleep and added that he’d rather take
out his life than staying in prison for fifteen years - a quite possible
sentence.
According
to “The Wall Street Journal” of 16/10 “Thais deeply revere their
80-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Some see him as almost divine and
carry his image in talismans or on car dashboards to bring good luck”.
The newspaper article is about several activists
being detained in the dungeons of the Asian country recently, under
the same charge as Nicolaides.
Nevertheless,
Harry will need good and a lot of luck to ever come out of the medieval
Thai galleys, which remind us of Turkish jail and brings to mind scenes
from “The midnight express”.
Apart
from luck, what is really needed is our support, not only from friends and
relatives, but from everyone who detests totalitarianism and believes in
the application of Human Rights all over the world.
Let
us all call the Embassy of Thailand in Athens 210 6710155 to protest, or
send e-mail to thaiath@otenet.gr,
or sign the Petition created by newspaper NEOS KOSMOS and The Cyprus
Community of Melbourne and Victoria. For, the more we protest, the better.
Let
us not allow Harry’s fears come true: “If my case is forgotten, I,
myself, will be forgotten in the dungeons of Thailand, as well”.
*Christianna
Loupa is a lawyer, writer and columnist
