Wipas Raksakulthai
Encyclopedia
Wipas Raksakulthai is a Thai
businessman currently serving a sentence for lèse majesté
following a Facebook
post to his account perceived to criticize King Bhumibol. Wipas has been named a prisoner of conscience
by Amnesty International
.
Wipas is a Thai "Red Shirt", a supporter of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, the movement loosely affiliated with deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra
. On 29 April 2010, he was arrested at his home in Rayong Province
by the Department of Special Investigation on charges of lèse majesté, following a Facebook post to his account allegedly criticizing the king. He was 37 years old at the time of his arrest. Wipas denied that he had made the post, stating that his account had been hacked. In May 2011, The Nation quoted a "reliable source" as saying that Wipas had been released on bail, but was trying to avoid further news coverage.
The Bangkok Post
reported that this was thought to be the first lèse majesté charge against a Thai Facebook user. A media reform activist described the case as escalating "the climate of fear among [Thai] internet users" and stated that "now many people refrain from revealing their real identities on Facebook."
In its 2011 Annual Report, Amnesty International criticized the arrest, expressing its concern that "[Thai] freedom of expression is being curbed through the use of the emergency decree, the lese majeste law and the Computer Crime Act." The organization named Wipas a prisoner of conscience
, apparently the first in several decades. An advisor to Amnesty International said he was uncertain why Wipas had been classified as a prisoner conscience while the possibly hundreds of other citizens detained under the lese majeste law had not.
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
businessman currently serving a sentence for lèse majesté
Lèse majesté
Lese-majesty is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.This behavior was first classified as a criminal offence against the dignity of the Roman republic in Ancient Rome...
following a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
post to his account perceived to criticize King Bhumibol. Wipas has been named a prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...
by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
.
Wipas is a Thai "Red Shirt", a supporter of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, the movement loosely affiliated with deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
. On 29 April 2010, he was arrested at his home in Rayong Province
Rayong Province
Rayong province is a province of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Chon Buri and Chanthaburi. To the south is the Gulf of Thailand.-History:...
by the Department of Special Investigation on charges of lèse majesté, following a Facebook post to his account allegedly criticizing the king. He was 37 years old at the time of his arrest. Wipas denied that he had made the post, stating that his account had been hacked. In May 2011, The Nation quoted a "reliable source" as saying that Wipas had been released on bail, but was trying to avoid further news coverage.
The Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
The Bangkok Post is a broadsheet, English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. The first issue was sold on August 1, 1946. It had four pages and cost 1 baht, a considerable amount at the time....
reported that this was thought to be the first lèse majesté charge against a Thai Facebook user. A media reform activist described the case as escalating "the climate of fear among [Thai] internet users" and stated that "now many people refrain from revealing their real identities on Facebook."
In its 2011 Annual Report, Amnesty International criticized the arrest, expressing its concern that "[Thai] freedom of expression is being curbed through the use of the emergency decree, the lese majeste law and the Computer Crime Act." The organization named Wipas a prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...
, apparently the first in several decades. An advisor to Amnesty International said he was uncertain why Wipas had been classified as a prisoner conscience while the possibly hundreds of other citizens detained under the lese majeste law had not.