Bangkok – state prosecutors in Thailand said Thursday that they do not intend to press charges against an American academic arrested for real defamation, a punishable crime with up to 15 years in prison.
The arrest last month of Paul Chambers, professor of political science at the University of Naresuan in the northern province of Phitsanulok, had worried about the academic community, especially of Asian studies scholars worldwide, as well as the United States government.
The decision not to process Chambers, a 58 -year -old Oklahoma native, does not immediately clarify the position of insulting the monarchy, also known as “Lèse Majesté”, or a related position of violating the Law of Computer Crimes, which covers online activities.
The announcement said that the provincial prosecutor of Phitsanulok will ask the Provincial Court to leave the charges and send the case file and the order of non -prosecution to the commissioner of region 6 of the Provincial Police, which is covered by Phitsanulok, who can review and dispute the decision.
Chambers, who has a Doctorate in Political Science from the University of Northern Illinois, was arrested in early April for a complaint filed by the Regional Office of the North of the Army Internal Security Operations Command.
He has studied the power and influence of the Thai army, who plays an important role in politics. He has organized 13 blows since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, more recently 11 years ago.
The Army Internal Security Operations Command told a parliamentary investigation that presented the complaint based on a Facebook post that translated words from a website operated by ISAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, a group of experts in Singapore, on a web seminar in Thai policy that included chambers as a participant.
Chambers supporters said the propaganda of the web seminar, which was summoned on their charges as evidence, was not written by him.
He had been imprisoned in April for two nights after informing the Phytsanulok police, and then granted bail release, with several conditions, including the use of an ankle monitor. A court on Tuesday allowed him to remove the device.
The Chambers Visa was revoked at the time of its arrest on the basis of an immigration law that prohibits entry to foreigners that are considered to participate in activities contrary to public order or good morality, prostitution, smuggling of people and drug trafficking. It was not clear immediately if the revocation will remain.
“This case reinforces our long -standing concerns about the use of the laws of Lèse Majesté in Thailand,” said the United States State Department after Chambers arrest. “We continue to urge Thai authorities to respect freedom of expression and to ensure that laws are not used to suffocate the permitted expression.”
The law of Lèse Majesté de Thailand demands between three and 15 years in prison for any person who differs, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the apparent heir or the regent. Critics say that it is among the hardest laws anywhere and has also been used to punish government and military critics.
The monarchy has long been considered a pillar of Thai society and criticizing it used to be strictly taboo. The conservative Thailand, especially in the army and the courts, still consider it untouchable.
However, the public debate on the subject has become stronger in the last decade, particularly among young people, and prodemocratic protests led by students from 2020 began to openly criticize the institution.
That led to vigorous prosecutions under the little used law. The Thai Lawyers Law Lawyers for Human Rights has said that since the beginning of 2020, more than 270 people, many of them student activists, have been accused of violating the law.
