[Rigf_program] [governance] URGENT - anybody in Bangkok tomorrow?

Wed May 30 03:47:52 EDT 2012

Thanks Peng Hwa.

Interesting how the post was 20 days and does that mean that a Notice was
served to remove the "offensive content"? We look forward to the updates
and thank you for updating us.

Kind Regards,
Sala

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 6:58 PM, Ang Peng Hwa (Prof) <TPHANG at ntu.edu.sg>wrote:

>  The news according to AP wire at around lunch time Bangkok today is that
> she has been given a suspended sentence of 8 months.
>
> http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hxzh_NRKiZ3kMcECG3Qfdjep9wRg?docId=2db4b7c640c94ff29eba5a776e9dddba
>
>  What this means is that, assuming the law is the same as in most other
> jurisdictions, if she does not break the same law, she will not have to
> spend any time in jail. She has paid a fine of US$625. Chiranuch herself
> describes the judge's verdict as "logical and reasonable" although she
> apparently harbored some hopes of being released.
>
>  The post in question had been left for 20 days, a period the judge
> considered too long. (Best/Common practice for intermediary immunity is
> five working days.)
>
>  As many of you would know, what you see is often not what you get
> because of the political factor in this equation. I will be in Thailand
> tomorrow Thursday presenting on media regulation. I will get more
> information.
>
>  Regards,
> Peng Hwa
>
>   From: Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro <salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com>
> To: "governance at lists.igcaucus.org" <governance at lists.igcaucus.org>,
> nhklein <nhklein at gmx.net>
> Cc: APrIGF <program at ap.rigf.asia>
> Subject: Re: [Rigf_program] [governance] URGENT - anybody in Bangkok
> tomorrow?
>
>  Dear Norbert,
>
>  This is terrible news and not a good precedent and could prove viral
> especially in countries that have rule of law issues.
>
>  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.
>
>  It may be useful to consider whether it is worthwhile filing an amicus
> brief in this instance???
>
>  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.
>
>  Kind Regards,
> Sala
>
> On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 10:49 PM, Norbert Klein <nhklein at gmx.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> this came in just now, late for an urgent court date tomorrow.
>>
>> 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."
>>
>> 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 *Asia Pacific Regional
>> Internet Governance Forum *in Hongkong in June 2010, at that time
>> already under investigation.
>>
>>
>> Norbert
>> --
>> Norbert Klein
>>
>> Website: http://www.thinking21.org
>> Website: http://www.isoc-kh.org
>> eMail: nhklein at gmx.net
>>
>>
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------  Subject: THAILAND: Court to read
>> verdict in landmark freedom of expression case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn –
>> call for observers  Date: Tue, 29 May 2012 09:11:05 +0200  From: AHRC
>> Urgent Appeals <listadmin at ahrchk.net> <listadmin at ahrchk.net>  To:
>> nhklein at gmx.net
>>
>>
>> <http://internal.ahrchk.net/phplist/?p=preferences&uid=db121d2a7df0b540482da7f95bd5ce3a>
>>
>> ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION -- URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
>>
>> Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-017-2012
>>
>> May 29, 2012
>>
>> [RE: AHRC-STM-099-2012<http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-099-2012>:
>> THAILAND: Concerns over delayed verdict in criminal case against free media
>> advocate]
>> *---------------------------------------------------
>> *THAILAND: Court to read verdict in landmark freedom of expression case
>> of Chiranuch Premchaiporn – call for observers
>>
>> ISSUES: Freedom of expression<http://www.humanrights.asia/issues/freedom-of-expression>,
>> Human rights defenders<http://www.humanrights.asia/issues/human-rights-defenders>
>> -------------------------------------------
>>
>> Dear friends,
>> *
>> 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.
>>
>> UPDATED INFORMATION:*
>>
>>  <http://www.humanrights.asia/campaigns/chiranuch-prachatai>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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> *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*, 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. *In a previous statement
>> released at the time of the postponement (AHRC-STM-099-2012<http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-099-2012>),
>> the AHRC noted that* 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.
>>
>> 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.
>> 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.
>>
>> (Visit the AHRC webpage on Chiranuch Premchaiporn at:
>> http://www.humanrights.asia/campaigns/chiranuch-prachatai.)
>>
>>
>>  Thank you.
>>
>> Urgent Appeals Programme
>> Asian Human Rights Commission (ua at ahrc.asia)
>>
>>
>> *Visit our new website with more features at www.humanrights.asia.*
>>
>> *You can make a difference. Please support our work and make a donation
>> here <http://www.humanrights.asia/get-involved/donate>. *
>>
>> -----------------------------
>>
>> Asian Human Rights Commission
>> #701A Westley Square,
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>
>  --
> Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala
>
>  Tweeter: @SalanietaT
> Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
> Cell: +679 998 2851
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala

Tweeter: @SalanietaT
Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
Cell: +679 998 2851
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