<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 11:57 PM, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro@gmail.com" target="_blank">salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Dear Norbert,<div><br></div><div>This is terrible news and not a good precedent and could prove viral especially in countries that have rule of law issues. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Hopefully her lawyers can file a Motion to suggestion is to judically review the
Computer Crimes Act (CCA), since it was passed by an unelected legislature operating under a military-appointed government passed in 2007 and another to temporarily stay the prosecution whilst the legality of the provision is being debated. This will give Human Rights Organizations and civil society to file amicus briefs.</div>
<div><br></div></blockquote><div>Oops this was supposed to read " Hopefully her lawyers can file a motion to judicially review.....(delete "to suggestion")</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div></div><div>It may be useful to consider whether it is worthwhile filing an amicus brief in this instance???</div><div><br></div><div>For the Attorney General to prosecute
Chiranuch Premchaiporn on someone's whim reeks nothing short of malicious prosecution. It will be great to know the outcome of the matter.</div><div><br></div><div>Kind Regards,</div><div>Sala<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
<div><div class="h5">
On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 10:49 PM, Norbert Klein <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:nhklein@gmx.net" target="_blank">nhklein@gmx.net</a>></span> wrote:<br></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div><div class="h5">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<br>
Dear Colleagues,<br>
<br>
this came in just now, late for an urgent court date tomorrow. <br>
<br>
It relates to a case of freedom of expression and, in this case,
specifically to a "crime" related to "transitory liability" of
Chiranuch Premchaiporn - whether or not the provider of an Internet
service is legally liable for what users do with this service. As
this Urgent Appeal states: "Her alleged crime, to underscore the
point, was that she removed the comments [not written by her or by
staff of the Prachathai website], which consisted of allusions
rather than direct references to the royal family, with insufficient
rapidity."<br>
<br>
The question of "transitory liability" may not be central to
Internet governance - but it is not only discussed in Thailand. I
dare to share this here, as Chiranuch did participate in the <strong>Asia
Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum </strong>in Hongkong
in June 2010, at that time already under investigation.<br>
<br>
<br>
Norbert<br>
-- <br>
<font color="blue">Norbert Klein</font><br>
<br>
<font color="black">
Website: <a href="http://www.thinking21.org" target="_blank">http://www.thinking21.org</a><br>
Website: <a href="http://www.isoc-kh.org" target="_blank">http://www.isoc-kh.org</a><br>
eMail: <a href="mailto:nhklein@gmx.net" target="_blank">nhklein@gmx.net</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
-------- Original Message --------
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap valign="BASELINE">Subject: </th>
<td>THAILAND: Court to read verdict in landmark freedom of
expression case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn – call for
observers</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap valign="BASELINE">Date: </th>
<td>Tue, 29 May 2012 09:11:05 +0200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap valign="BASELINE">From: </th>
<td>AHRC Urgent Appeals <a href="mailto:listadmin@ahrchk.net" target="_blank"><listadmin@ahrchk.net></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap valign="BASELINE">To: </th>
<td><a href="mailto:nhklein@gmx.net" target="_blank">nhklein@gmx.net</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<p style="color:rgb(128,128,128)"><font size="1"><a href="http://internal.ahrchk.net/phplist/?p=preferences&uid=db121d2a7df0b540482da7f95bd5ce3a" target="_blank"><br>
</a></font></p>
<p>ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION -- URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME</p>
<p>Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-017-2012</p>
<p>May 29, 2012</p>
<p>[RE: <a href="http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-099-2012" target="_blank">AHRC-STM-099-2012</a>:
THAILAND: Concerns over delayed verdict in criminal case against
free media advocate]<br>
<strong>---------------------------------------------------<br>
</strong>THAILAND: Court to read verdict in landmark freedom of
expression case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn – call for observers</p>
<p>ISSUES: <a href="http://www.humanrights.asia/issues/freedom-of-expression" target="_blank">Freedom
of
expression</a>, <a href="http://www.humanrights.asia/issues/human-rights-defenders" target="_blank">Human
rights
defenders</a><br>
-------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Dear friends,<br>
<b><br>
On 30 May 2012, at 10 am in the Criminal Court in Bangkok, the
verdict in the case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, charged with ten
counts of allegedly violating the 2007 Computer Crimes Act in
Black Case No. 1667/2553, will be read. The reading, which had
been scheduled for one month ago, was unexpectedly postponed.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges all concerned
persons to attend the court as observers, and calls on other
interested persons to follow the case closely.<br>
<br>
UPDATED INFORMATION:</b><br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.humanrights.asia/campaigns/chiranuch-prachatai" target="_blank"><img alt="" align="right" height="300" hspace="4" vspace="4" width="150"></a>The
formal proceedings against Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the 44-year-old
webmaster Prachatai, an independent online news site, began on 3
March 2009, when the Criminal Court issued a warrant for her
arrest. On 5 March 2009, a warrant to search the Prachatai office
was issued and the next day police from the Crime Suppression
Division raided the office and arrested Chiranuch in response to
one complaint of her alleged violation of the vaguely worded,
anti-democratic Computer Crimes Act (CCA), which an unelected
legislature operating under a military-appointed government passed
in 2007. The police released Chiranuch later that evening, but the
next month nine further complaints were brought against her. On 31
March 2010, the Office of the Attorney General proceeded with the
prosecution and she was arrested and held at the Criminal Court
before again being released on bail. <br>
<br>
Reading the above account, we might infer that Chiranuch had
published some highly inflammatory, dangerous or secret material
on the Prachatai site that warranted the heavy involvement of
specialist police and state prosecutors and a series of events
involving a raid and detention. In fact, her crime was to have not
done something: to have failed to remove 10 comments alleged to be
injurious to the monarchy from the Prachatai webboard quickly
enough. Her alleged crime, to underscore the point, was that she
removed the comments, which consisted of allusions rather than
direct references to the royal family, with insufficient rapidity.
<br>
<br>
Examination of the specific provisions of the 2007 Computer Crimes
Act under which these bizarre allegations were brought does not
help us to clarify the thinking of those responsible for the
prosecution of Chiranuch Premchaiporn. Under section 14 of the
CCA, anyone can be jailed for five years if found to have imported
to a computer "false computer data in a manner that it is likely
to damage the country's security or cause a public panic… any
computer data related with an offence against the Kingdom's
security under the Criminal Code". Under its section 15, the
service provider found to have consented to the use of the
computer for this purpose is equally liable as the person
committing the offence, which in the case of Chiranuch is the
crime of lese majesty, as stipulated in section 112 of the
Criminal Code, that, "Whoever defames, insults or threatens the
King, Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished
(with) imprisonment of three to fifteen years." The broad, vague
provisions of the CCA, and the imprecise way in which it can be
linked with equally vague provisions of the Criminal Code dealing
with national security, post clear and direct threats to the
rights of citizens in Thailand. The very basis of the allegations
against Chiranuch Premchaiporn -- that not removing comments
deemed to defame, insult, or threaten the monarchy, itself an
allegation that is unclear, is a threat to national security --
threatens to make a mockery of the Court and the meaning of
justice in Thailand. <br>
<br>
The trial hearings occurred in February and September 2011, and
February 2012, and summaries by Freedom Against
Censorship-Thailand are available on the campaign webpage that the
AHRC has set up for Chiranuch. As these show, much of the
testimony turned on the interpretation of how the comments that
she removed tardily, in the opinion of the police and prosecutor,
constitute criminal content in the meaning of the law. Whether or
not a written comment on a webpage or link to an image or video is
"likely to damage the country's security or cause a public panic"
is necessarily fraught with difficulty, even more so as the
Computer Crimes Act does not specify what might constitute a
likelihood to damage the country's security or create a public
panic, or even define "security" or "public panic". What any of
these terms mean, it seems, comes down to the opinion of the judge
in the individual case. No standards exist to which we can refer.
What is clear, however, are the effects of this legislation and
the absence of clear standards contained. Chiranuch Premchaiporn,
a long-standing human rights defender and media activist, has been
forced to endure three years of harassment and fear by the Thai
state security and legal apparatus. In addition, during a
critical period in Thailand’s modern history, the Prachatai
webboard, a crucial site of discussion and debate, was forced to
shut down, for fear that both users and more of its staff members
could face additional prosecution. <br>
<br>
<b>The hearings in Chiranuch's case ended in February 2012 and the
reading of the verdict was set for 30 April 2012. However, 20
minutes before the proceedings were to begin</b>, court staff
notified Chiranuch and her lawyers that the decision would be
delayed for an additional month. The rather dubious reason given
by the court for the delay was that the judges had too many
documents to read, and was unable to complete preparing the
verdict in time for the scheduled date. <b>In a previous
statement released at the time of the postponement (<a href="http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-099-2012" target="_blank">AHRC-STM-099-2012</a>),
the
AHRC noted that</b> both the delay to this case and the
explanation for the delay were sources of serious concern. Whether
caused by the court's inefficiency, overwork of the judges, or a
more specious strategy to subject Chiranuch Premchaiporn to
additional harassment and suffering. <br>
<br>
On the eve of the re-scheduled reading of the verdict in this
case, the Asian Human Rights Commission calls on the Criminal
Court to ensure that no further delays are caused in the reading
of this verdict, and that the trial be conducted openly, honestly
and justly. In particular, given the unclarities and lacunae in
the Computer Crimes Act, the onus is on the judges to act in the
service of justice. <br>
The AHRC urges all those persons and organisations concerned with
human rights and freedom of expression in Thailand to return to
the Criminal Court on 30 May 2012 for the re-scheduled reading of
the decision to observe action in either the service of justice,
or to witness its foreclosure.<br>
<br>
(Visit the AHRC webpage on Chiranuch Premchaiporn at: <a href="http://www.humanrights.asia/campaigns/chiranuch-prachatai" target="_blank">http://www.humanrights.asia/campaigns/chiranuch-prachatai</a>.)</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Thank you.<br>
<br>
Urgent Appeals Programme<br>
Asian Human Rights Commission (<a href="mailto:ua@ahrc.asia" target="_blank">ua@ahrc.asia</a>) <br>
<br>
</p>
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<br></blockquote></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div>Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala</div><div><br></div><div>Tweeter: @SalanietaT</div><div>Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro</div>
<div>Cell: <a href="tel:%2B679%20998%202851" value="+6799982851" target="_blank">+679 998 2851</a></div>
<div> </div><div><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="line-height:16px"><br></span></font></div><br>
</font></span></div>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div>Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala</div><div><br></div><div>Tweeter: @SalanietaT</div><div>Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro</div><div>Cell: +679 998 2851</div>
<div> </div><div><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="line-height:16px"><br></span></font></div><br>