The Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) has denied there is any link between lese-majeste charges against an American academic and stalled US-Thai trade talks.
An Isoc spokesman said the timing of the complaint filed by the security agency against Paul Chambers and Thailand’s attempts to persuade the US to reduce steep tariffs was purely coincidental.
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday he was told that legal cases against certain American citizens were one of the factors behind the postponement of negotiations that had been scheduled for April 23 in Washington.
Thaksin gave no details but speculation quickly turned to the Chambers case. The US State Department recently issued a statement saying it was “alarmed” by the implications of the case for academic freedom in Thailand.
Maj Gen Thammanoon Maison said that Isoc Region 3 and the Third Army filed lese-majeste and computer crime complaints in Phitsanulok province because they had received a relevant petition and found an act that might violate Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese-majeste law.
Isoc was duty-bound to protect national institutions and take legal action against any act by Thais or foreigners deemed as offending royalty, he said.
The complaint reportedly centres on a notice for an academic webinar organised by the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore on Thailand’s military and police reshuffles. It listed Mr Chambers, a recognised expert on the topic, as a speaker.
Mr Chambers has said he neither wrote nor published the text, which has since been taken down from the Institute’s website.
The prosecution of Mr Chambers adhered to normal procedures of the justice system and the rule of law, and society should wait for a conclusion from the justice system and accept the ruling, Maj Gen Thammanoon said.
Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who oversees security matters, said officials involved in the Chambers case took careful consideration to protect international relations.
If the academic did nothing wrong, he would be freed from prosecution but if he was proved to have done wrong, he would be held responsible by law, Mr Phumtham said.
Mr Chambers, a lecturer and special adviser on international affairs at Naresuan University in Phitsanulok, was charged this month. Lese-majeste is punishable by between 3 and 15 years in prison.
After spending a night in detention he was granted bail, on condition that he wear an electronic monitoring device on his ankle.
On Monday he petitioned the Phitsanulok court for the removal of the device, saying has shown no behaviour indicating an intent to flee. The court denied the request, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
Mr Chambers, who holds a PhD in political science from Northern Illinois University, is well-known in academic circles as a commentator on civil-military relations and democracy in Asia, with a special focus on Thailand. He has lived in Thailand since 1993.
