Hong Kong Bookseller Recounts Detention in Mainland China

By

-

17 June 2016, 11:13

Freed Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, right, listens to reporter's questions during a news conference in Hong Kong Thursday, June 16, 2016. Photo: Vincent Yu / Associated Press

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong bookseller gave an explosive account of being seized at a border by Chinese authorities, then blindfolded and spirited away to be confined in a room for five months of interrogation and surveillance. His detailed testimony directly contradicted official accounts of what happened to the five booksellers whose disappearances sparked international concern.

Lam Wing-Kee’s revelations to the media Thursday — made in defiance of Chinese authorities — were the first detailed account of what happened to the men, who worked for a publisher of gossipy books on China’s Communist leadership that are banned on the mainland. His testimony is sure to further fuel fears Beijing is tightening its grip on Hong Kong and undermining its considerable autonomy.

Lam told a packed news conference in Hong Kong that the disappearances were a “blatant violation of the one country, two systems” policy that governs Beijing’s relationship with Hong Kong, under which the former British colony retains civil liberties such as freedom of speech unseen in mainland China.

“If I myself, being the least vulnerable among the five booksellers, remained silent, Hong Kong would become hopeless,” said Lam, who unlike some of the others does not have family members on the mainland.

“It took me much courage and two sleepless nights to consider, but I decided to share the whole story with you, and tell the whole world that this incident is not only about myself or the bookstore, it’s about the core values that Hong Kong people need to safeguard,” he said.

Lam, who returned to Hong Kong on Tuesday, went missing eight months ago after crossing into the mainland and then resurfaced earlier this year on a Chinese television channel with some of the others to confess to some crimes, an appearance that he said was forced to make.

He was one of the minor characters in the saga of the missing booksellers, which gained worldwide attention because two other men involved had foreign citizenship and were suspected of being abducted by Chinese security agents working outside mainland China.

Amnesty International’s Hong Kong director, Mabel Au, said, “Lam Wing-kee has blown apart the Chinese authorities’ story. He has exposed what many have suspected all along: that this was a concerted operation by the Chinese authorities to go after the booksellers.”

Lam said he was seized on Oct. 24 by a “central special investigation team” after crossing from Hong Kong into the neighboring city of Shenzhen in mainland China. He was taken to a police station and held in a cell overnight. The next morning, he said he was blindfolded for a 13-hour train ride to the city of Ningbo, near Shanghai.

Police in the border city of Shenzhen did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment on Lam’s testimony.

Lam said for five months, he was kept under 24-hour surveillance by rotating two-man teams in a 19-27 square meter room. He said he was interrogated about the identities of the publishing company’s authors, but he couldn’t tell them because he didn’t know.

Publisher Gui Minhai, a Swedish national, went missing from his holiday home in Thailand about the same time as Lam, while chief editor and British passport holder Lee Bo disappeared from Hong Kong in December.

Members of pro-democracy group Demosisto, Joshua Wong, left, and Oscar Lai, hold the placards and newspaper with picture of Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-Kee during a protest in Hong Kong, Friday, June 17, 2016, as they march to the Chinese central government's liaison office. Photo: Kin Cheung / Associated Press — Members of pro-democracy group Demosisto, Joshua Wong, left, and Oscar Lai, hold the placards and newspaper with picture of Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-Kee during a protest in Hong Kong, Friday, June 17, 2016, as they march to the Chinese central government’s liaison office. Photo: Kin Cheung / Associated Press

Lam is one of the last to return to Hong Kong. Lee, Cheung Chi-ping and Lui Por returned earlier. All four asked police to cancel missing person cases for them. Lam said he was told to do so by the people holding him. Gui remains detained in mainland China. In a tearful televised appearance earlier this year, Gui said he returned to China because he felt guilty about a decade-old fatal hit and run accident.

He was made to sign a document agreeing not to contact his family or hire a lawyer. He was also forced to sign a confession that he broke the law by mailing his company’s books to people on the mainland. It was used as the script for his television appearance, he said.

He said his interrogators also demanded he hand over his list of clients as a condition of his release. They let him return to Hong Kong only if he agreed to return with a hard drive containing the list. He planned to go back Thursday with it but changed his mind and decided to speak out instead.

During his time in detention, Lam never came into contact with the others. But on Thursday morning he said he spoke to Lee, who told him he had handed over names of at least 500 customers, most of them in mainland China. Lee also told him he was kidnapped, contradicting earlier statements he gave to police and his wife that he went to the mainland on his own.

In a statement, the Hong Kong government said police were investigating.

“Law enforcement agencies of the mainland and overseas do not have the authority to enforce laws in Hong Kong,” it said. If officers from other jurisdictions “take law enforcement actions in Hong Kong, this will contravene Hong Kong laws and is unacceptable.”

Story: Annie Ho

NDM Launches Campaign to Reject Charter at Crowded Book Fair

Junta Bans Bookstore Talk on Draft Charter

17 Films to Show at European Film Fest

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

-

17 June 2016, 10:29

BANGKOK — From a family drama documenting a bluegrass-loving Belgian couple to a historical drama about a sportsman on the run from Stalin’s police in Estonia, 17 films from 14 European countries will screen in three provinces starting next week.

European Union Film Festival showcases quality Euro films. Highlights include the fairytale horror of “Tale of Tales” (2015), the inspiring true story of an Estonian fencing master in Golden Globe-nominated “The Fencer” (2015) and an award-winning German heist drama shot in one long take, “Victoria” (2015).

The festival also includes a Swedish documentary on pro-bicycle activists, “Bikes vs Cars” (2015) and Hungarian absurdist comedy “Afterlife” (2014) which centers around a young man and his relationship with father’s ghost.

The festival takes place from June 22 until July 3 at Central World’s SF World Cinema before it moves to SFX Cinema Maya in Chiang Mai from July 8 until July 17.

A scaled-down version of the event will be held from July 21 until July 24 at Central Plaza Khon Kaen.

All films will be screened in their original languages with English and Thai subtitles.

The schedule is available online. Tickets are 120 baht for the screenings in Bangkok and 80 baht in Chiang Mai. Admission is free for the festival in Khon Kaen.

Cops Want to Arrest Fugitive Abbot; Monks Say No; Cops Meekly Obey

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

-

16 June 2016, 18:48

Followers of Dhammakaya Temple meditate under the rain on Thursday morning as police searched their headquarters for temple leader Dhammachayo.

BANGKOK — A high-profile police operation to arrest an influential monk implicated in a massive embezzlement scheme came to a farcical end Thursday when his followers simply refused to let them through.

Investigators now say they’re mulling another attempt to arrest Dhammachayo, the 72-year-old abbot of the Dhammakaya Temple, who has repeatedly refused to turn himself in to police since the court approved his arrest warrant three weeks ago.

Police entered the massive UFO-like headquarters of Dhammachayo’s Buddhist sect in northern Bangkok at around 9am Thursday with a search warrant. Monks at first promised full cooperation with police, but by afternoon officers ran into resistance from a group of laymen who blocked the gate to the abbot’s office.

Phra Sanitwong Wutthiwangso told reporters that he and police officers tried to negotiate with disciples to allow the officers to enter and conduct a search, but the request was refused.

“I can’t do anything, because those disciples are more senior than me, and they have been contributing a lot to Dhammakaya Temple before I got here,” Santiwong said.

Faced with an immovable barrier, police said they had no choice but to retreat, citing the need to avoid violent confrontation.

“The incident dragged on until afternoon because there were many disciples, and we have to think about security,” said Suriya Singhakamol, deputy chief of the Department of Special Investigation, or DSI, which heads the investigation into Dhammachayo.

A monk leads police and DSI officers on Thursday morning into the complex of Dhammakaya Temple to search for temple leader Dhammachayo.

Suriya said officers may file a charge of obstruction of justice against the resisting disciples, depending on their “intention.”

“We will deliberate whether the obstruction was done with an innocent intention,” Suriya said. He also blamed the rainstorm as a factor that complicated the police operation.

Dhammachayo was identified as one of the main recipients of hundreds of checks worth 11 billion baht sent by the former president of a credit union since convicted of embezzlement. For his alleged action, the abbot is charged with money laundering and receiving embezzled funds.

But Dhammachayo, who is regarded by his followers as a mystic saint, has vehemently denied the allegations. His ecclesiastical office has said he and other monks were not aware that the donations were tainted.

After the court approved a warrant to arrest warrant him on May 17, Dhammachayo refused to surrender himself, saying he was too ill to meet with police. The DSI moved to look for him today following a court-approved search warrant issued yesterday.

Despite failure by police to arrest Dhammachayo today, Sriwarah Rangsipramkul, deputy chief of Royal Thai Police, said he wouldn’t call the operation a failure because no violence broke out.

“As for whether the DSI regards this operation as a failure, it depends on the deliberation of the team and the media,” Sriwarah said.

He added that police will try to mount another operation at Dhammakaya Temple when the time is right.

Dhammakaya to Sue Trasher for Party ‘Blasphemy’

Politics, Corruption in Battle for Naming New ‘Supreme Patriarch’

Protest Prompts Officials to Postpone Dhammakaya Monks March

Thai Religious Authority Denies Acquitting Controversial Monk

Dhammakaya Abbot Allowed to Continue Monkhood

Khaosod English Recognized for Editorial Excellence

By

Khaosod English

-

16 June 2016, 17:42

BANGKOK — The Society of Publishers in Asia recognized Khaosod English last night for editorial excellence in opinion writing.

Khaosod English was awarded an Honorable Mention for Excellence in Opinion Writing for senior staff writer Pravit Rojanaphruk’s column “Down the Memory Hole Lies ‘Juntaland,’” Wednesday evening at the annual SOPA Awards ceremony in Hong Kong.

“Pravit Rojanaphruk’s body of work, inclusive of the title entry, displays rare conviction and courage in championing democratic values in an authoritarian state,” the society’s judging committee said of the column, the first entry in his weekly Retention column published Nov. 7 after he joined the news organization.

In a period that has seen it ramp up in reporting staff and coverage, this was the first year Khaosod English joined the region’s most prestigious editorial awards contest. On Thursday, Khaosod English was joined by Kaewta Ketbungkan, a veteran reporter of Voice TV and Thai PBS, who will cover lifestyle and culture.

More than 280 media executives, editors, journalists and industry affiliates from across the Asia Pacific region attended Wednesday evening’s awards ceremony, according to SOPA.

"Down the Memory Hole Lies 'Juntaland'" — “Down the Memory Hole Lies ‘Juntaland'”

“I am honored to be recognized by SOPA in Hong Kong and would like to thank Khaosod English editor Todd Ruiz for submitting the opinion piece to compete on behalf of our young and small organization,” Pravit said. “Opinion writing relies on not just the strength of rational argument but empathy for those whom you disagree with as well as the ability to grasp the big picture. The recognition encourages me to continue to strive for excellence in opinion writing and journalism in general for the benefit of society.”

The top honors for the category in the same class went to the Nikkei Asian Review and The Myanmar Times.

“The SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence are widely recognized as the gold standard for outstanding journalism in Asia,” SOPA Chairman Raymond Warhola said. “The record number of entries received this year from across the region reflects the value that publishers and editors increasingly place on the SOPA Award.”

Across town, Bangkok Post’s Sunday Spectrum was recognized for explanatory and human rights reporting for stories by Nanchanok Wongsamuth and Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai.

Entries were judged by a panel of more than 100 judges drawn from journalists, editors, columnists and notable academics from media departments of prestigious universities.

The Society of Publishers in Asia is a Hong Kong-based nonprofit founded in 1982 to represent media companies in Hong Kong and around Asia. It launched the SOPA Awards in 1999 to set a high benchmark for journalism in Asia.

Founded in 2013 and based in the Thai capital, Khaosod English is an English-language news organization committed to the highest principles of journalism and a stringent code of ethics. It is part of the Matichon Group.

Human-Eating Lions Condemned to Life in Captivity in India

By

Associated Press

-

16 June 2016, 17:06

In this Saturday, March 24, 2012 photo, a lion rests at the Gir Sanctuary Forest reserve in the western Indian state of Gujarat, India. Photo: Rajanish Kakade / Associated Press

NEW DELHI — Officials at a forest reserve in western India have sentenced three lions to life in captivity after they were found to have eaten humans.

Seventeen lions in the Gir Forest reserve in Gujarat state were rounded up by forest authorities last month after three people living near the sanctuary were killed in attacks.

Gujarat’s chief conservator, A.P. Singh, said human remains were found in the excrement of one male lion and two females.

He said the male had attacked and killed the humans, while the females had eaten the leftovers.

An official at a nearby zoo said Thursday that the male lion was moved to the zoo and the females will be held at a rescue center. The 14 other lions will be released back into the sanctuary.

Drunk Monkey Drinks Himself to Death (Video)

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

-

16 June 2016, 16:26

LOPBURI — A long-tailed macaque got an early start on the bad stuff yesterday morning and went on a drunken bender that ended 24 hours later in death by alcohol poisoning.

The unnamed monkey was already three sheets to the wind on lao khao (rice whiskey) when it was spotted by som tam vendor Lamoon Panpetch, who saw him fall off a roof Wednesday morning, stumble around a bit, then hide in a corner near her stall.

Some humans staged an intervention and tried to get help for the plastered primate, but it was too late. The drunk monkey died Thursday morning at a livestock facility where it was sent for help.

Singing, Dancing Activists Chased Off by Pro-Junta Counter-Protesters (Video)

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

-

16 June 2016, 16:11

Pansak Srithep of Resistant Citizen is led by officers Wednesday outside Election Commission offices at the Chaeng Wattana Government Complex in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — Yesterday wasn’t the best day for pro-democracy activist Sirawith Seritiwat.

Sirawith, aka Ja New, described being trapped and surrounded by dozens of junta supporters inside the Election Commission office Wednesday as “very scary” even with police present to keep order.

Sirawith arrived in the afternoon with about a dozen others to the commission’s offices to perform a song and dance number protesting the draft charter when an estimated 30 to 40 men and women emerged from vans at the same spot to hurl verbal abuse and threats, mostly aimed at Sirawith.

Police rushed the 23-year-old student into the commission’s office which was then surrounded by pro-junta counter-protesters. Sirawith said he was trapped inside from 3:40pm to 6:20pm and was unable to carry out his much-awaited anti-junta hip hop dance.

“They eventually took me out through a back door,” said Sirawith, a postgraduate political science student at Thammasat University and the protest movement’s most recognizable face.

A pro-junta counter-protest gestures angrily Wednesday outside Election Commission offices at the Chaeng Wattana Government Complex in Bangkok.

The event had been widely promoted online as a follow-up to a video recently released showing various activists singing and dancing against the charter, the release of which angered authorities.

“We have to be prepared for opponents in the future,” Sirawith said. “The police didn’t dare deal with these people who threatened to physically assault us, but instead took us away to be kept somewhere.”

Among the invective hurled at Sirawith included repeated accusations he is bent on overthrowing the monarchy.

Resistant Citizen’s music video featuring well-known activists singing and dancing against the draft charter

“Why are you here? Why are you causing disturbances?” one woman shouted.

An amused police officer poses for photos before dancing protesters Wednesday outside Election Commission offices at the Chaeng Wattana Government Complex in Bangkok.

Pansak Srithep, a leader in the pro-democracy Resistant Citizen group said he was there Wednesday but managed to make his escape sooner. Pansak took to the internet today to question why police didn’t remove the aggressors from the area.

“Or was it that the other side is well-organized, and police are afraid of them or those behind them?” he wrote.

Sirawith, whose boyish face and bearing have become widely recognized, said he’s been threatened before and will have to be more careful. He said a man on a big motorcycle stopped to verbally threaten him earlier this year as he waited at a bus stop.
“While I’m travelling alone, I try to stick with places where there are people,” If I wait at a bus stop, I’ll choose a crowded one. At night, I don’t go to secluded areas.”

Facebookers Denied Bail Again, Despite Million-Baht Bond Money

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

-

16 June 2016, 15:10

Security officers brought a shackled Harit Mahaton to the martial court on Wednesday to hear his bail ruling.

BANGKOK — Two people accused of insulting the monarchy in private chat messages were denied bail a fifth time yesterday, despite offering to post a million baht bond.

Nattatika Worathaiwit and Harit Mahaton have been jailed since they were detained by the military in late April. They will stand trial in the martial court on royal defamation charges, as well as sedition for running anti-junta Facebook pages.

Parents of Facebookers Petition King For Children’s Release

Their lawyer Winyat Chartmontree said prosecutors opposed bail on the grounds the accused may interfere with witnesses they’ve yet to interview or flee the country. The court agreed.

“Last time they told us there were two more witnesses to be examined, and this time, they still said they’re not done yet,” Winyat said by telephone. “But the court also instructed the prosecutors to hurry up.”

Winyat said he offered to post bonds of 500,000 baht for each defendant, yet the court was still convinced that Harit, 26, and Nattatita, 43, constituted flight risks.

Security officers brought Nattatika Worathaiwit to the martial court on Wednesday to hear her bail ruling.

Under the law suspects can be remanded in prison for up to 84 days without being charged. Winyat said he believes Harit and Nattatika will be indicted before their next remand session.

“The two were disappointed [of not getting the bail release] but a part them still has hope,” Winyat said. “Once their cases reach the court, I believe there’s a chance that they will be released.”

Nattatika and Harit are among eight people abducted from their homes by the military on April 27. They were later charged with violating the Computer Crime Act and sedition for allegedly running anti-government Facebook pages deemed insulting to the military government and its leader, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha.

While the six other suspects were released on bail May 10, Nattatika and Harit were charged with an additional offense of royal defamation and jailed to await trial under the military tribunal.

Investigators accused the pair of insulting the monarchy via their private chat messages sent over Facebook.

Libeling the Royal Family, a crime also known as lese majeste, carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison per offense.

Detained Facebookers Allege Chat Evidence Obtained Illegally

Lese Majeste Filed Against Two Facebookers, Anti-Junta Activist

Junta Chief Restores Free Education Removed by Draft Charter

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

-

16 June 2016, 14:06

Primary students at a Ratchaburi school in a February 2011 file photo. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister.

BANGKOK — The leader of the ruling junta exercised his absolute power Wednesday to reestablish government support for 15 years of public education that was written out of the draft charter prepared by his appointees.

In response to outcry over the draft charter’s elimination of funding for the last three years of secondary education in favor of three years for kindergarten, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha on Wednesday ordered that basic education be provided without cost for the full 15 years as before.

“The head of the National Council for Peace and Order considers this in compliance with the council’s education policy, and the education reform policy of the government,” read the order, referring to the junta by its formal name.

The order relied on the absolute power bestowed upon Prayuth under Article 44 of the interim constitution.

The reduction of free education has proved one of the most contentious points of the junta-sponsored draft charter since it was released in January. It scheduled to go to a public vote on Aug. 7.

Activists, academics and civil society groups condemned the drafter for denying a right Thai children have enjoyed as a constitutional guarantee since 1997.

Democrat Slams 3 Years of Education Written Out of Constitution

Police Move to Arrest Dhammakaya Abbot

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

-

16 June 2016, 11:15

Provincial riot police officers load into vehicles Thursday at a command center near Wat Dhammakaya north of Bangkok.

BANGKOK — A police operation is underway in the rain Thursday morning at the headquarters of a controversial Buddhist sect whose abbot is wanted on charges of money laundering and receiving embezzled funds in the millions of baht.

Armed with a search warrant approved Wednesday, investigators entered the massive Dhammakaya Temple complex at about 8:30am to arrest its leader Dhammachayo amid worries clashes may break out between police and thousands of the 72-year-old abbot’s faithful followers who are meditating in the temple ground.

Dhammakhaya Sect Goes Into Siege Mode to Protect Fugitive Abbot

Four companies of police are searching the temple for Dhammachayo, who previously refused to surrender himself on May 26, citing illness. The Department of Special Investigation has maintained a presence around his UFO-like temple since, where the entrance had been barricaded by heavy equipment.

Temple spokesman Phra Sanitwong Wutthiwangso said the abbot is still in the temple, receiving treatment from a team of doctors.

Dhammakaya monks await the arrival of law enforcement Thursday at their temple complex north of Bangkok.

“He has not fled anywhere,” Phra Sanitwong said. “We insist that we will fully cooperate with the police in their search.”

Investigators identified Dhammachayo as among those who were directly sent hundreds of checks worth 11 billion baht by the former president of a credit union since convicted of embezzlement.

But Dhammachayo, who is regarded by his followers as a mystic saint, has steadfastly denied the allegations. His ecclesiastical office has said he and other monks were not aware the donations were tainted.

DSI deputy chief Suriya Singhakamol told reporters that his supervisor instructed him to strictly avoid any violence or bloodshed in today’s operation.

“We’d like to ask for cooperation from the disciples,monks and their relatives who are here today,” Suriya said at the temple. “Please let the officers search the interior [of the temple] smoothly.”

It is estimated that at least 10,000 worshipers are inside the Dhammakaya complex. The media are not allowed beyond the entrance area of the temple.

This is a developing story.

Dhammakaya to Sue Trasher for Party ‘Blasphemy’

Politics, Corruption in Battle for Naming New ‘Supreme Patriarch’

Protest Prompts Officials to Postpone Dhammakaya Monks March

Thai Religious Authority Denies Acquitting Controversial Monk

Dhammakaya Abbot Allowed to Continue Monkhood

Hot News

LATEST NEWS