[DEBATE] : (Fwd) Support Giles Ungpakorn please

[Patrick Bond]

(Giles is a great comrade. His radical intellectual work on Thailand is 
exceptional, and his courage in defending democracy is unmatched. In 
Thailand, no socialist is as well known. The charges against him are 
insane, reflecting how well he has battled. Please endorse this letter: 
ji.ungpakorn at gmail.com )

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	128 academics call for lese majeste against Giles to be dropped
Date: 	Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:00:44 +0700


*_128 Academics, intellectuals and members of parliament from around the 
world call for charges against Giles Ji Ungpakorn to be dropped_*

128 academics from U.K, Canada, France, South Africa, Ireland, 
Australia, South Korea, Greece and the U.S.A., including those from 
Oxford University and SOAS London University, have signed an open letter 
calling for charges of lese majeste, made against Giles Ji Ungpakorn, to 
be dropped. Among those signing are also famous writers such as Susan 
George and China Miéville. The list also includes members of parliament 
from New Zealand and Britain.

A seperate petition in Thai and English, for the scrapping of all les 
majeste cases is being circulated and discussions are taking place among 
communities and  citizens' groups throughout Thailand.

We wish to express our deep concern at the decision of the Thai Police 
Special Branch to prosecute Associate Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn,of 
the Political Science Faculty at Chulalongkorn University, with lèse 
majesté – that is, with insulting King Bhumibol. Mr Ungpakorn is a 
well-known commentator on Thai politics, widely quoted in the 
international media. The charge arises from his book A Coup for the 
Rich, published in 2007. In that book he criticized the coup of 19 
September 2006, in which the military seized political power in 
Thailand. Mr Ungpakorn argued that the army, along with the rest of the 
Thai establishment, used the monarchy to legitimize its political 
interventions. This is the kind of analysis that political scientists 
make as a matter of course, but various bookshops withdrew /A Coup for 
the Rich/ from circulation, forcing Mr Ungpakorn to make it available on 
the Internet.

Now his academic freedom and basic citizenship rights have come under 
much more serious attack with this prosecution. Lèse majesté has fallen 
into disuse in most of the world as a relic of the pre-democratic past. 
Thailand is an exception. The Economist commented on 14 August 2008: 
'The king said in 2005 that he could be criticised and was not afraid of 
this. But those posing as his majesty's protectors conveniently forget 
his words. So, despite their democratic institutions, Thais are not free 
to debate matters regarding their head of state,   including appropriate 
limits on criticizing him.'

Lèse majesté carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, and MPs from the 
government party headed by Abhisit Vejjajiva, which came to office 
thanks to the connivance of the army, want to increase this to 25 years. 
The prosecution of Mr Ungpakorn therefore represents the most 
fundamental attack on freedom of speech. We demand that the charges 
against him are unconditionally withdrawn.

1. Dr. Geoff Abbott, Newcastle University

2. Professor Gilbert Achcar, School of Oriental and African Studies, London

3. Dr Talat Ahmed, Goldsmiths, University of London

4. Dr Kieran Allen, University Collhe Dublin

5. Dr Sam Ashman, University of East London

6. Dr Miryam Aouragh, University of Oxford/University of Amsterdam

7. Hans Baer, University of Melbourne

8. Professor Abigail Bakan, Queen's University, Canada

9. Chris Bambery, Editor, /Socialist Worker/

10. Colin Barker, Manchester Metropolitan University (Emeritus)

11. Dr John Baxter, Open University

12. Dr Tom Behan, University of Kent

13. Professor Jacques Bidet, University of Paris 10 – Nanterre (Emeritus)

14. Dr Sue Blackwell, University of Birmingham

15. Professor Luc Boltanski, École des hautes études en sciences 
sociales  

16. Professor Patrick Bond, University of KwaZulu-Natal

17. Helen Bowman, Manchester Metropolitan University

18. Pat Brady, Council for Academic Freedom and Academic Standards

19. Professor Dennis Brutus, University of KwaZulu-Natal

20. Professor Alex Callinicos, King's College London

21. Dr David Camfield, University of Manitoba

22. Mark Campbell, London Metropolitan University, National Executive 
Committee, Universities and College Union

23. Dr Steve Cannon, University of Sunderland

24. Joe Carolan, Editor, Socialist Aotearoa, New Zealand

25. Agger Carsten, Denmark

26. Jim Casey, Vice President, Fire Brigade Employees Union, New South Wales

27. Dr. John Charlton

30. Professor Simon Clarke, University of Warwick

31. Paul Coates, President, University of Melbourne Graduate Student 
Association

32. Dr Alejandro Colas, Birkbeck College University of London

33. Petros Constantinou,,Campaign GENOA 2001 Greece

34. Adrian Cousins, UNITE rep, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

35. James Cussens, University of York

36. Bernice Daly, National Executive Committee, Universities and College 
Union

37. Neil Davidson, University of Strathclyde

38. Dr Jonathan Davies, University of Warwick

40. Dr Andy Durgan, Barcelona University

41. James Eaden, Chesterfield College, National Executive Committee, 
Universities and College Union

42. Manfred Ecker, Vienna

43. Professor James Fairhead, University of Sussex

44. Dr Sue Ferguson, Wilfrid Laurier University

45. John Fernandes

46. George Galloway MP

47. Panos Garganas, National Technical University of Athens

48. Susan George

49. Lindsey German, Convenor, Stop the War Coalition (pc)

50. Professor Mike Gonzalez, University of Glasgow (Emeritus)

51. Dr Peter Goodwin, University of Westminster

52. Sarah Gregson, Vice President Academic, National Tertiary Education 
Union, University of New South Wales

53. Dr Phil Griffiths, University of Southern Queensland

54. Sylvia Hale, Member of Parliament, New South Wales

55. Professor Nigel Harris, University College London (Emeritus)

56. Professor Barbara Harriss-White, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford

57. Marion Hersh, University of Glasgow

58. Tom Hickey, University of Brighton, National Executive Committee, 
Universities and College Union

59. Brian Ingham, Richmond-upon-Thames College, National Executive 
Committee, Universities and College Union

60. Feyzi Ismail, School of Oriental and African Studies, London

61. Nick James, University of Leicester and UCU NEC

62. Professor Seongjin Jeong, Gyeongsang National University, South Korea

63. John Kaye, Member of Parliament, New South Wales

64. Paul Kellogg, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada

65. Dr Anna Laerke, Open University

66. Jens Laerke, United Nations, Nairobi

67. Councillor Michael Lavalette, Liverpool Hope University

68. Maeve Landman, National Executive Committee, Universities and 
College UnionMelanie 69. Lazarow, Secretary, National Tertiary Education 
Union, University of Melbourne

70. Dr Elizabeth Lawrence, National Executive Committee, Universities 
and College Union

71. Professor Michael Lebowitz, San Francisco University

72. Craig Lewis, National Executive Committee, Universities and College 
Union

73. Dr Nancy Lindisfarne, School of Oriental and African Studies, London 
(Emeritus)

74. Professor Domenico Losurdo, University of Urbino

75. Dr Steve Ludlam, University of Sheffield

76. Alan Maass, SocialistWorker.org, USA

77. Professor David McNally, York University, Toronto

78. Judith McVey, Coursework Education Officer, University of Melbourne 
Graduate
Student Association

79. Georges Menahem, University of Paris-13/Dalhousie University, Canada

80. China Miéville

81. Laura Miles, Bradford College

82. Dr Sally Mitchison, Consultant Psychiatrist

83. Professor Colin Mooers, Ryerson University

84. Dr Carlo Morelli, University of Dundee

85. Dr Tim Morris

86. Pablo Mukherjee, University of Warwick

87. Antony Nanson, Bath Spa University

88. Dr Jonathan Neale, Bath Spa University

89. Jakob Nerup, National Board, Red-Green Alliance, Canada

90. Professor Alan Norrie, King's College London

91. Allison O'Toole, Joint Queer Officer, University of Melbourne Graduate
Student Association

92. Dr George Paizis, University College London

93. Jamie Parker, Mayor of Leichhardt, New South Wales

94. Dr John Parrington, Worcester College Oxford

95. Dr Diana Paton, University of Newcastle

96. David Pejoski, Joint Queer Officer, University of Melbourne Graduate 
Student
Association

97. Professor Malcolm Povey, University of Leeds, National Executive 
Committee, Universities and College Union

98. Dr Nat Queen, University of Birmingham

99. Maloti Ray, Research officer, University of Melbourne Graduate Student
Association

100. Lee Rhiannon, Member of Parliament, New South Wales

101. Dr. Elaheh Rostami-Povey, School of Oriental and African Studies, 
London

102. Professor Alfredo Saad Filho, School of Oriental and African 
Studies, London

103. Dr Alison Sealey, University of Birmingham

104. Dr Alan Sears, Ryerson University, Toronto

105. Dr Claude Serfat, Université de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

106. Anwar Shah, International Student Officer, University of Melbourne 
Graduate
Student Association

107. Yiannis Sifakakis, Stop the War Coalition Greece

108. Sasha Simic, USDAW Shop Steward, Central Books (pc) 

109. Professor Beverley Skeggs, Goldsmiths, University of London

110. Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM)

111. Professor Colin Sparks, University of Westminster

112. Maria Styllou, editor, /Socialism from Below/ (Greece)

113. Dr. Viren Swami, University of Westminster

114. J.G. Taylor, Leeds Metropolitan University

115. Jennifer Toomey, University of Newcastle

116. Dr Alberto Toscano, Goldsmiths, University of London

117. Charles-André Udry, Editions Page deux, Switzerland

118. Universities and College Union, Branch Committee, University of Dundee

119. Turkan Uzun, Antikapitalist, Turkey

120. Professor Kees van der Pijl, University of Sussex 

121. Vegard Velle, member of national executive committee, Red Party, Norway

122. Sean Vernell, City & Islington College, National Executive 
Committee, Universities and College Union

123. Christine Vié, Manchester Metropolitan University

124. Dr. Max Wallis, Cardiff University                          

125. Dr Vron Ware, Open University

126. Tony Williams, Activities Officer, University of Melbourne Graduate 
Student
Association

127. Dr Jim Wolfreys, King's College London

128. David Streckfuss, Khon Kaen University THAILAND