LESE-MAJESTE LAWS ARE A SIGN OF STUPIDITY AND INCIVILITY

Lese-majeste is the crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity
of the president or God. Lese-majeste is now used only in repressed countries,
and is a sign of stupidity and incivility. The 14th article of the Constitution
of Greece makes it lese-majeste for the media to insult the President of Greece
and any religion recognized by the state.


A Bangkok criminal court judge today sentenced Prachatai news website editor Chiranuch Premchaiporn to a year's probation and a suspended eight-month jail term under the Computer Crimes Act for allowing 20 days to go by before removing a comment critical of the monarchy that was posted by a visitor to the website's forum.

CISPA and ACTA encourage freakish governments, such as the brutal government of Greece. On October 18, 2010, the Greek government stole my computer and my life at gunpoint. Mr. Pikrammenos, bring my computer back! Enough is enough! Needless to say, I also demand my life back. Greece, the bully of blogosphere, has crossed the Rubicon against civility, terrorizing and robbing dissident bloggers. http://venitism.blogspot.com

"We share Chiranuch's relief that she has not been imprisoned but she has yet to recover her freedom of action and we regret that she was found guilty of insulting the monarchy," Reporters Without Borders said. "An appeal is possible but it will now be very hard for Prachatai to reopen its forum as a place for debating Thai society's problems."

The fight against cybercensorship is more essential than ever. By creating blogs for exchanging ideas and information, internet is a force for freedom. In countries where the traditional media are controlled by the government, the only independent news and information are to be found on the internet, which has become a forum for discussion and a refuge for those who want to express their views freely.http://venitism.blogspot.com

Chiranuch, who is better known by the pen-name of Jiew, said she was not happy with the verdict. "As a content host, I am still regarded as guilty," she said. Her lawyer said: "Even if the trial outcome was generally positive, the court nonetheless took the position that she deliberately hosted content critical of the monarchy, and this was not the case."

Accusing dissident bloggers of treason, kleptocrats have manufactured a blood libel in cyberspace, which in turn incites hatred and violence. The freakish kangaroo justice government of Greece is the only government on Earth which steals the computers of its citizens! Infamous CCU is the brutal arm of the kangaroo government of Greece, which terrorizes the cyberspace, stealing computers and files at gunpoint, perjuring, jailing dissident bloggers, and gagging the truth. The Greek Cyber Crime Unit (CCU) is the most disgusting gang in Fourth Reich! http://venitism.blogspot.com

Chiranuch had been facing a possible 20-year jail sentence under section 15 of the 2007 Computer Crimes Act and paragraph 112 of the criminal code (concerning lèse-majesté) for failing to move quickly enough to remove a total of 10 comments deemed to have insulted Thailand's monarchy.

Persecuting dissident bloggers often results in their blogs being publicized more widely. The Streisand Effect is a strong argument for the old adage that the best response to bad speech is more speech, not censorship. The Streisand Effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to hide or remove a piece of information has the perverse effect of publicizing the information more widely. It is named after Barbra Streisand, whose attempt to suppress photos of her residence generated further publicity.

During the trial, the defence tried to demonstrate that Chiranuch took appropriate precautions when she adopted a policy in 2006 giving site the right to delete any comments that appeared to contain false information or information that could not be verified. Prachatai finally closed down its discussion forum on 31 July 2010 out of concern that it could be abused.

In the end, the judge only convicted Chiranuch for the comment that stayed online for the longest time – 20 days. He ruled that this was unreasonably long, although section 15 does not specify any time limit.

Only Anglosphere has real justice. Greece, the most corrupt country in Occident, has the worst justice in Fourth Reich, easily manipulated by the kangaroo government. Greek justice is a spider web, catching small prey and swallowing them, while allowing crocodiles to penetrate and dominate it. Visiting Greek prisons, one could see all les miserables that fill them up, but he could not find any kleptocrats. http://venitism.blogspot.com

The Greek government has invented a way of terrorizing dissident bloggers with frivolous charge stacking and perpetual delay of justice. The government accuses a dissident blogger with many charges, including treason, in order to intimidate the blogger. Besides, a charge might stick like throwing spaghetti on the wall. 

Moreover, no accuser shows up during the trial, the judge postpones the trial for another six months, and so it goes ad infinitum in order to break the nerves of the blogger in a perpetual sequence of agony, huge legal expenses, and humiliation. Perpetual delay of justice is being used as a punishment without trial. This amounts to routine summary punishment of the presumed innocent.

Hail! A sensitive issue cannot be fully explained in a post, but only in a speech, in that magic eyeball to eyeball contact, baring my soul, and declaring truths that cause shock and awe. That's why I look forward to the invitation of your organization to speak at your conference. Basil Venitis, venitis@gmail.com