Thailand’s Oppressive Media Law

It was the summer of 2008 and I was in Bangkok, Thailand, on a then work related trip that left me enough spare time to look around and do some reporting.   My focus included alternative media, and lucky for me, a good friend introduced me to Jiew, editor of the alternative magazine Prachatai.com.  We did a very interesting and informative podcast about the situation in Thailand, which included a discussion of the limitations on press freedom in that country.

During the interview we touched upon the “Lèse Magesté”: extremely oppressive laws that govern how you can or cannot talk about the royal family.  As a journalist, you are not allowed to criticize the royal family in publications.  Doing so would constitute a serious offense and while I can’t remember what the average sentence could be, I remember it was bad.  Jiew was extremely well versed in what a reporter or media channel could and couldn’t do in their work, even an alternative source.  To my surprise she even asked me to turn off my recorder when we got to the part about the laws regarding media and the royal family.  She explained off the record how it works and the risk that one ran by publishing anything considered critical the exalted king.  It marked, still to this day, one of the few times in the 7 year history of my program, that I’ve had to turn off a recorder for legal reasons- even just to hear a seemingly harmless explanation of the rules.

Over the years Jiew and I have of course remained in contact, whenever there’s something (and there always is) going on in Thailand or SouthEast Asia, I know I can ask her for help with information or perhaps a good source to better understand what is happening.

Unfortunately, and to my great shock and disappointment, the Thai government is now pursuing a case against her.  Claiming, I believe, a violation of the Royal Family criticism laws at her publication; they are seeking a jail sentence.  As many watchdog groups have reported, the government is clearly afraid of someone so committed to reporting what is really going on behind the dog-n-pony show Thailand puts on for the tourist masses.

And so an excellent journalist, a friend of this citizenreporter.org, and someone who has dedicated her life to making the world around us a better place faces the looming threat of being convicted of a crime that should have long been stricken from the legal books in favor of real universal human rights.  All the more reason for us to help Jiew beat this bogus charge in any way we can, so she can fight twice as hard next time to keep this from happening ever again.

(To be continued, trail posponed to February)

Power and Uprising in Angola

This month saw one of the first major uprisings against the government in Angola in recent memory. It was organized, you guessed it- with the help of social media. After Gaddafi, President José Eduardo dos Santos is the longest running leader of an African state (32 years). And just like with  the now-fugitive Muammar, many are saying this presidency has gone on for too long. But can change finally come to Angola?

Joining me for a podcast conversation about the reports that have come out of Angola this month is citizen of the world and Global Voices contributor Janet Gunter.  Together we try to understand and explain where the country stands when it comes to politics, economy, human rights, and prospects for the future.

The Encroaching Police State in Canada

When the city of Vancouver made the push to get the Winter Olympics, Joe Bowser and citizens throughout BC were opposed. Through the ballot box and demonstrations they expressed their disapproval. As a result, they were spied on, targeted, and to this day followed by a Canadian government that knows no limits and sees opposition as terrorism.

I caught up with Joe at CCC2011, just a few weeks ago. He had presented his experience as the target of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that has left him with little doubt that the present and future of Canada is dark. In this interview we discuss:

  • The Winter Olympics Proposal
  • The B.C. budget crisis
  • First Nations People of BC
  • Anti-Olympics Network
  • Annecy Olympics
  • The Harper Government
  • The future

Joe on Twitter

Vancouver Media Collective

Guardian Piece on Sousa Mendes

Today my piece on visiting the Casa do Passal and the Legacy of Sousa Aristides de Sousa Mendes was published on the Guardian CiF. It looks at the failure to truly honor his memory as well as  how even today there are those with the power to decide to break a rule or a law to save lives.  Here’s an excerpt, please click the link to read the whole thing:

“So you’ve seen our shame, our disgrace?” Those were the first words from an older gentleman wearing a sash along the parade route. It is carnival in Cabanas de Viriato, the ancestral home of Portuguese second world war hero Aristides de Sousa Mendes, and I’m walking alongside Francisco Antonio Campos, director of the local philharmonic.

He sounds frustrated as he stares in any direction to avoid looking at theghastly abandoned mansion looming over us in the town square. More than 70 years since Sousa Mendes, a diplomat assigned to the consulate in Bordeaux, saved over 30,000 people from the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, his story remains largely unknown and his majestic home, Casa do Passal, is falling to pieces.

Abandoned Casa do Passal
Casa do Passal, What is left of it.

Note: For those in the NYC/Long Island area, there is a special event being put on by the Sousa Mendes Foundation on Saturday in Mineola. Full details here.

Fiji Water Closed?

Photo of Fiji Military by Flickr Member JSA_NZMore than a year since the great investigative reporter Anna Lenzer published her article on the story behind Fiji water (also appearing as a guest on this podcast), the company announced this week it is closing its operation in Fiji.  After a long relationship with the ruling military junta, the company announced on their blog on Nov 29:

In Friday’s budget (11.26.10), the Fiji government announced that it will impose a 15-cent per liter tax on bottled water at locations where more than 3.5M liters per month are extracted.  FIJI Water, which currently pays 1/3 of a cent per liter, is the only bottled water producer in Fiji affected by the increased tax; bottlers who extract less than this monthly limit will continue to pay about 1/10 of a cent, or 10,000% less tax than FIJI Water.

This new tax is untenable and, as a consequence, FIJI Water is left with no choice but to close our facility in Fiji, effective Monday, Nov. 29, 2010. We are saddened that we have been forced to make a business decision that will result in hardship to hundreds of Fijians who will now be without work.

They went on to refer to the government of Fiji and the terrible state the country is in:

The country is increasingly unstable, and is becoming a very risky place in which to invest.

24 Hours later the company makes a new announcement explaining that after discussions with the government, its factory will reopen:

Through our discussions, we have also agreed to comply with Fiji’s new water tax law……Moving forward, FIJI Water is committed to working with the Fijian government,  and remains dedicated to helping the country’s economy and its people.

An odd turn of events, first that they decide yesterday, after more than a year of dealing with an undemocratic government with a questionable human rights record, that they had finally reached their breaking point. Then that after one day of discussions, the government is not as bad as they explained the day before, and that all is fine.  It actually impressive they didn’t delete the post from the 29th altogether, pretending it never happened. Perhaps the heavy amount of proof scattered around the internet would have been difficult to take back.

There is much to ask of both the Fiji government, the water company, and drinkers of Fiji water to understand what is going on here.  Unfortunately in what has long been an unsustainable operation, doing more harm then self-proclaimed good on this planet, it looks like business as usual.  Not that Fiji water drinkers ever really asked anything about the bottle they continue to hold in their hands.

More on this and hopefully some answers to these questions: soon.

bmtv119 Room for Everyone

March from Waterloo SquareThe squatting community in Amsterdam is under siege, with the new law declaring squatting illegal, many who have lived in their homes for a decade or more are now considered criminals and subject to forceful eviction. ; But the community and its supporters have not given up hope and refuse to be made homeless by the authorities.

This brief video clip is from one of the many marches against the evictions, as squatters and supporters marched from Waterloo Square through the heart of Amsterdam.

More info at: squat.net or indymedia.nl