Swiss man jailed for Thai insult

**CzarJunkie** · 29th March 2007

A Swiss man has been jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to charges of insulting the Thai king.

Oliver Jufer, 57, was arrested last December after drunkenly spray-painting posters of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Earlier this month he pleaded guilty to five charges under Thailand's draconian lese majeste law.

Judge Phitsanu Tanbukalee said that Jufer received a reduced sentence because he had admitted his guilt.

"This is a serious crime, and he was sentenced to four years for each of five counts, for a total of 20 years," he said.

"Because he confessed, the court has reduced his sentence to 10 years."

Jufer is believed to be the first foreigner ever imprisoned for the offence.

Others have been charged in the past, but later expelled from the country rather than jailed.

Sensitive issue

Jufer, who had faced a maximum sentence of 75 years, has lived in Thailand for more than 10 years.

KING BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ
King Bhumibol
Born in 1927, ascended throne in 1946
World's longest-serving current head of state
Official powers are limited, but wields enormous influence because of popular backing
Widely believed to have given backing to 2006 military coup

Sensitive regimes

He was recorded on surveillance cameras defacing the portraits on the king's 79th birthday.

Earlier he had tried to buy alcohol but been refused, since such sales are sometimes banned on important days. King Bhumibol, the world's longest-serving current head of state, is a very popular figure in Thailand.

The case has highlighted strict laws in Thailand which forbid any criticism of the monarchy.

Such is the sensitivity of the issue, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok, that it is receiving little attention in the Thai media.

Most Thais feel a deep reverence for their monarch. But they also fear discussing the institution because of the severe penalties for criticising members of the royal family.

Jufer has a month to lodge an appeal against the sentence, our correspondent adds, but his best hope now is probably a royal pardon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/6505237.stm

**Q-Ball** · 29th March 2007

Ten years for defacing some posters is harsh - but he has lived there for 10 years and knew the rules. The king is well respected and he shouldnt have done it. I thought they might have kicked him out of the country..

**GTI** · 29th March 2007

Although harsh, he was never-the-less treated a lot more leniently than a Thai would have been e.g. the judge gave him the minimum possible sentence for each count and then halved his overall time.

**ian_jedi** · 29th March 2007

they still have death sentence for drug dealers?

**FireBlade** · 29th March 2007

Should have chopped his flipping head off bloody Swiss!

**MercuryRises** · 29th March 2007

Originally Posted by ian_jedi

they still have death sentence for drug dealers?

Could be, they did a couple of years ago....

Thaksin’s remarks suggest a revival of last year’s deadly drug crackdown. Between February and May 2003, some 2,275 suspected drug offenders were shot dead in Thailand in apparent extrajudicial execut1ons.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/10/05/thaila9445.htm

From the first of Feb to the May 31st, that's an average of 19 (18.958333333 recurring) people per day.

I wouldn't like to risk it