From: kamol@ipied.tu.ac.TH (Kamol Hengkietisak)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai
Subject: Bangkok Post Dec 20: Sulak gives himself up
Date: 15 Dec 1992 17:46:11 +1100
Organization: Mail/News gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: munnari.oz.au

 
SOCIAL critic Sulak Sivalaksa, who has been in exile in Sweden 
since September last year, returned home yesterday to fight lese 
majeste and defamation charges.
 
Upon arrival, he was whisked from Don Muang airport by police and 
handed over to the Office of the Supreme Attorney-General, where 
he was freed on 300,000-baht bail.
 
"I decided to come back to fight the charges because I believe the 
Chuan Leekpai Government, which was democratically elected, is 
different from the previous government, which was an instrument of 
the National Peace-keeping Council.
 
"This is a good chance for me to confirm that I am a royalist and 
that I have been falsely accused by those in the NPKC who 
exercised power only in their own interest. The May crackdown 
proved their intentions," he said.
 
Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Pol Maj-Gen Sophon 
Warachanond, head of the police team handling his case, led three 
other police officers to pick up Prof Sulak when he stepped off 
the Thai Airways International flight that brought him from 
Sweden.
 
They took him to Chana Songkhram police station without the 
knowledge of reporters waiting for his return.
 
Police said they took Mr Sulak to an undisclosed location to 
inform him of the charges and have two witnesses identify him. Mr 
Sulak denied the charges.
 
The two witnesses were Pol Lt-Col Taksin Puang-ngen and Pol Sgt 
Somdej Boonluan, who was at Thammasat University during Mr Sulak's 
speech on August 22, 1991.
 
The speech, "Six Months of the National Peacekeeping Council: a 
Recession for Thai Democracy," was organised by the Student 
Federation of Thailand in opposition to the military junta which 
overthrew the Chatichai Choonhavan government in a coup d'etat on 
February 23, 1991.
 
Former army chief Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon filed the charges 
against Mr Sulak, and there were reportedly threats made against 
his life.
 
Mr Sulak, accompanied by a German friend, arrived from Frankfurt 
on a THAI flight at 6.20 a.m. Waiting for him were members of his 
family and lawyer Thongbai Thongpao.
 
He is to report on December 24 for arraignment in Criminal Court.
 
Prosecutor Sueb Thavornyoo said he had set December 24 for 
arraignment because he could not finish the prosecution statement 
yesterday.
 
"This is a highly-charged case. The Supreme Attorney-General's 
Office has to handle it carefully," he said.
 
Prof Sulak was accused by the Special Branch police of insulting 
the monarchy and others in the speech last September. He also 
allegedly accused then-prime minister Suchinda and NPKC chairman 
Gen Sunthorn Kongsompong of visiting Burma to seek logging rights 
and advice on staging a coup from the State Law and Order 
Restoration Council in Rangoon.
 
Mrs Nilchawee, Mr Sulak's wife, said her husband called her on 
Saturday afternoon from Frankfurt to confirm his return. She said 
he chose to return home yesterday because it was the 105th 
birthday of the late Phraya Anumarn Rachathon, or `Sathirakoset', 
a respected novelist.
 
One of Mr Sulak's close aides, Santisuk Sophonsiri, said most of 
Mr Sulak's relatives and aides had no knowledge of his return.
 
He said Mr Sulak's return would benefit non-government 
organisations, who need advice from respected people.
 
Mr Sulak said he would continue his charity work, but his lawyer, 
Thongbai, had told him to keep away from controversial issues.
 
"He is legally free to speak or write but if there is another 
legal case he would be arrested again," Mr Thongbai said.
 
Amnesty International, the London-based human rights organisation, 
issued a statement last week saying it considered the charges 
against Mr Sulak a violation of his right to freedom of speech. It 
said that if he is arrested or convicted on these charges it would 
consider him to be a prisoner of conscience.