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Writer jailed for 'insulting' Thai royals

By Voice, Created on: 19/01/2009, Last updated on: 17/06/2009

» Writer jailed for 'insulting' Thai royals Australian writer Harry Nicolaides is jailed for three years after being found guilty of insulting the Thai monarchy in his novel. Today news from the BBC, after heard the news I thought that maybe it time that maybe we should all discussing this kind of...

• Yellow_Shirt commented : [b:iehucjno]FREE[/b:iehucjno] AUSTRALIAN author Harry Nicolaides, who was jailed for criticising Thailand's royal family in a book, has arrived in Melbourne after being pardoned. Mr Nicolaides had a tearful reunion with his father Socrates, brother Forde and partner Jintana at Melbourne airport this afternoon. Speaking to reporters at the airport after touching down around 1.30pm (AEDT), he thanked the Australian people for their support and the media for helping to get him released. Asked how he felt, Mr Nicolaides said he was "bewildered and dazed, nauseous". "I have been crying for eight hours," he said. "I learned only a few minutes before my flight that my mother had suffered a stroke.... "A few hours before that I was informed I had a royal pardon and asked to kneel before a portrait of the king - a royal audience of sorts. "Before that I was climbing out of a sewerage tank that I fell into in the prison." "I ran out of tears but I never ran out of hope or love," he said. Now, he said, he was "tired, I am exhausted and I have a mother to go and see who suffered a stroke and has lost the power of speech". His father Socrates said he was delighted to have his son back. "It was a living death but now I feel I have come alive again," he said. Mr Nicolaides walked free from prison yesterday after Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej issued a royal decree on Wednesday, his brother Forde Nicolaides said. It ended a "six-month nightmare" for the family, after the author's arrest in August and subsequent conviction and jailing last month, Forde Nicolaides said. "I'm absolutely ecstatic. This is a huge relief for the family after a terrible time, one which obviously has consumed us for the last six months," he said. "To have Harry on his way home is fantastic and he will be very glad to be home." But any planned celebrations on Mr Nicolaides' arrival will be tempered following the hospitalisation of his mother Despina, who suffered a stroke a fortnight ago. Forde Nicolaides said his brother would be taken straight to hospital to see their mother, adding the family would still toast his freedom at the earliest opportunity. "Dad is ecstatic that he's got another son back home to help," Forde Nicolaides said. "I spoke to Harry last night, he rang me from the airport and assured me he is reasonably fit, despite his ordeal. "He is in good spirits and is looking forward to arriving home - he cannot wait to see his family." Mr Nicolaides, 41, was arrested in late August and locked up in jail before pleading guilty last month to lese majeste - offending the royal family - in 12 lines he wrote in his 2005 novel Verisimilitude, which referred to an unspecified crown prince's love life. Since his detention, Mr Nicolaides' family and lawyer Mark Dean have campaigned for his release, and upon conviction immediately began applying for a royal pardon. "Our emphasis to the Thai government was on compassionate grounds, for them to consider Harry's case compassionately and expeditiously," Forde Nicolaides said. "I think everyone was on the same page, as they have been reasonably expeditious with the application. We are very grateful for that. Finally to have him home ... it's just fantastic, just wonderful." [url:iehucjno]http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25086273-2,00.html[/url:iehucjno]

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