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HOCUS LOCUS Blogpost
Harry Nicolaides, the Australian writer jailed in Thailand for defaming its monarch, has returned home after being pardoned by the king and set free on February 21th.
Harry, 41, was sentenced to three years in jail by a Thai court on Blue Monday, January 19 2009, after pleading guilty to insulting Thailand’s revered royal family in his novel Versimilitude. Harry Nicolaides appeared in a Bangkok court wearing a dark orange prison jumpsuit with his hands cuffed and his feet shackled. He has already been in custody for nearly five months. He dared writing a novel (of which only seven copies were sold) in which as much as ten phrases express critical thoughts on the doings of the crown prince of Thailand.
The horror of lese-majeste in which devotees of 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand take themselves far too seriously, has now turned into a nightmare for an innocent writer without an audience. His physical health has deteriorated, he has lost weight, he has been continually unwell for extended periods of time. And obviously psychologically he has found the experience of being in prison in Thailand very challenging.
