FACT - Freedom Against Censorship Thailand

[FACT comments: Strange that the audio files have been deleted from the independent download sites.]

Chotisak no show at forum due to threats from Manager Radio
Prachatai: May 5, 2008

http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=623

On May 2, a public forum was held at Thammasat University to address the controversial issue of the refusal of Chotisak Onsoong and his girlfriend to stand for the royal anthem. The panelists included social critic Sulak Sivarak, historian Suthachai Yimprasert, and reporter Pravit Rojanaphruk, with Thammasat lecturer Kasem Penpinan as the moderator.

The organizers, including the Santi Pracha Dharma Institute and Fah Diew Kan (Same Sky) magazine, started the forum with an audio clip recorded from a radio programme ‘Metro Life’ which belongs to the Manager Group, the driving force of the anti-Thaksin, royalist People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD). The radio programme was broadcast on the night of April 30 at FM 97.75, or Manager Radio, during which the hosts incited listeners to come to the forum to attack Chotisak and disrupt the event.

(Note: since the evening of May 2, the audio files of the programme for April 29 and 30 have been removed from www.managerradio.com, but can be downloaded here (29) and here (30).)

The organizers therefore informed participants that Chotisak would not join the panel at the forum for safety reasons. Read the rest of this entry »

[FACT comments:  This is what happens when minorities are kept in poverty and not allowed a voice. Sound like Patani? Sound like Alcatraz?]

Occupation of Palace Area Invigorates Native Hawaiian Movement
By JANIS L. MAGIN
The New York Times: May 3, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/us/03hawaii.html?ref=todayspaper
A Native Hawaiian independence group laid claim this week to the United States’ only royal palace and the state land surrounding it, raising anew the issue of self-determination for the islands’ native people…The group believes it has the right to take back from the government more than one million acres in the Hawaiian Islands it claims were illegally seized during the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, 11 years after the palace was built.

[FACT comments: There's gotta be a law about this!]

“มติชน” เตือนหยุดขบวนการตีกระทบเบื้องสูง-เปิดภาพธง THAKSIN
โดย ผู้จัดการออนไลน์: April 29, 2008

http://manager.co.th/Politics/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9510000049879

เผยหลักฐานชัดโบกธงชาติไทย ที่มีคำว่า “THAKSIN” ในสนามแมนฯ ซิตี สื่ออาวุโส “เปลว สีเงิน” ระบุ ไม่เหมาะสม เช่นเดียวกับหนังสือพิมพ์มติชนรายวัน ที่นำเสนอข่าวเรื่องนี้ พร้อมบทนำเรื่อง “ปล่อยไว้ไม่ได้แล้ว” ว่า มีการเคลื่อนไหวของฝ่ายที่อ้างตัวเองเป็นฝ่ายประชาธิปไตย ต้องการต่อต้านขับไล่เผด็จการ ผลิตสื่อโจมตีประธานองคมนตรี เพื่อต้องการกระทบกระเทียบไปถึงสถาบันเบื้องสูง…หลังจากที่เมื่อวานนี้ (28 เม.ย.) คอลัมน์ “คนปลายซอย” โดย เปลว สีเงิน ในหนังสือพิมพ์ไทยโพสต์ ได้เขียนถึงความไม่เหมาะสมในการนำชื่อ พ.ต.ท.ทักษิณ ชินวัตร ไปเขียนบนธงชาติ และโบกสะบัดในสนามซิตีออฟแมนเชสเตอร์ ในนัดที่แมนฯ ซิตี เปิดบ้านพ่ายฟูแลมไป 2-3 และนัดนั้น พ.ต.ท.ทักษิณ บินจากประเทศไทยไปนั่งชมในสนามในฐานะประธานสโมสรด้วย

2 pro-Tibet activists stopped at Hong Kong airport ahead of torch relay
By DIKKY SINN,
Associated Press: April 28, 2008

http://www.axilltv.com/bkpost-2.php?newsid=319243
Two pro-Tibet activists, Students for a Free Tibet organizer Kate Woznow and Free Tibet Campaign organizer Matt Whitticase, who planned to protest at Hong Kong’s leg of the Beijing Olympics torch were detained and questioned after arriving in Hong Kong  and one was immediately put on a return flight to New York…It was the second known instance in which activists have been denied entry ahead of the Olympic torch’s arrival in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The flame’s return to Chinese soil follows a global tour marred by protests against Beijing’s human rights record and its recent crackdown in Tibet…The detention of the activists will likely raise concerns because Hong Kong, a former British colony now ruled by China, is supposed to enjoy Western-style civil liberties such as freedom of expression that are denied in the mainland.

Torch Nears, Posing Test of Autonomy in Hong Kong
By KEITH BRADSHER
The New York Times: April 29, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/world/asia/29torch.html?ref=todayspaper

the Hong Kong government denied entry to three Danish human rights advocates who had hoped to protest at the torch relay, detaining them for six hours and then putting them against their will on a flight to London. A Tibetan monk was stopped on arrival at the airport over the weekend and forced to fly elsewhere, according to the local news media…But local critics of China’s human rights record are still planning to demonstrate, and more rights advocates from overseas are expected to try to enter the territory of Hong Kong to hold their own protests, notably the actress Mia Farrow, who is now one of the most prominent critics of China’s role in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Myanmar man arrested, 12 demonstrators hurt in scuffle with Japan police outside embassy
By MARI YAMAGUCHI,
Associated Press: April 26, 2008

http://www.axilltv.com/bkpost-2.php?newsid=318852

A Myanmar man was arrested and 12 demonstrators were injured Saturday in a scuffle with Tokyo police, at a rally to demand that all Myanmar expatriates be allowed to vote in a constitutional referendum…The incident occurred outside the Myanmar Embassy where Myanmar citizens with the required documents could vote this weekend on whether to accept the draft charter, although apparently only some had been notified in advance of the vote

[FACT comments: Watch carefully now! This is precisely how governments collude to protect repression, by creating a climate of public fear where repression becomes acceptable. And what are 'fake possibilities' anyway?!?]

Interpol chief warns of ‘real possibility’ of violent acts during Beijing Games
By AUDRA ANG,
Associated Press: April 25, 2006

http://www.axilltv.com/bkpost-2.php?newsid=318713

Widespread protests along the Olympic torch relay route and reports of foiled terrorist plots in China suggest a real possibility for violence during the Beijing games, the head of Interpol says…Potential attacks could involve efforts to block transportation routes, interfere with competitions, assault athletes or destroy property during the Olympics…Chinese officials have said that terrorism is the biggest threat to the Aug. 8-24 Olympic Games and has called for closer international cooperation to prevent possible incidents.

North Korean defectors vow to disrupt Olympic torch relay in the South
By JAE-SOON CHANG,
Associated Press: April 26, 2008

http://www.axilltv.com/bkpost-2.php?newsid=318848

North Korean defectors vowed Saturday to disrupt the South Korean leg of the Olympic torch relay in protest at China’s repatriation of refugees to the North where they could face execution.

[FACT comments: Human rights oppressors aren’t safe anywhere!

Vietnam expels man accused of planning to disrupt Olympic Torch relay
Associated Press: April 25, 2008

http://www.axilltv.com/bkpost-2.php?newsid=318693

Authorities in Vietnam expelled an American citizen of Vietnamese origin, Vuong Hoang Minh, who allegedly planned to disrupt the Olympic Torch relay, state media reported Friday.

[FACT comments: And we're supposed to believe this?!?]

China trims foreign media coverage of Olympic flame’s Everest ascent, citing bad weather
Associated Press: April 23, 2008

http://www.axilltv.com/bkpost-2.php?newsid=318365

China has altered plans for foreign media coverage of the Olympic flame’s ascent of Mount Everest, with officials saying harsh weather would make reporting conditions difficult…Changes to the three-month-old plans include the cancellation of a send-off ceremony at Everest base camp for the Chinese mountaineering team who were carrying the torch up the world’s tallest peak, officials with the Beijing Olympic organizing committee said.