BREAKING: Thai "Political Prisoner" Guilty of Death Threats, Not "Free Speech"

Western NGOs hyping dead "political prisoner" omit contents of his "free speech."
by Tony Cartalucci

May 10, 2012 - Suppose at the height of a violent rally where soldiers, police, protesters, and civilians have already been killed, you decide to send an SMS to a government aid threatening to kill the head of state of your country. How long do you think it would take you to end up in prison, and how long do you suppose your sentence would be? Would you be audacious enough to claim making death threats constituted protected "free speech?"

Under 18 USC § 876 - Mailing threatening communications - a suspect convicted of such a crime can face up to 20 years in prison or a steep fine. In the United States, it is general knowledge that making such threats are not only inappropriate and in fact illegal to make against members of the government, but are inappropriate and illegal to make against anyone. Generally, those making such threats against the US President are not sound of mind and are usually committed to psychiatric help. Many Americans fear instead of being imprisoned for "whistle-blowing," peacefully protesting, or simply telling the truth.

In a recent case in Thailand, a so-called "political prisoner" Amphon "Akong" Tangnoppakul, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for "Lese Majeste," and through the complete fault of Thailand's flawed legal system, the nature of Akong's injuries toward Thailand's revered 800 year old institution were not made public. While Thailand's Lese Majeste laws are portrayed as a draconian tool used to muzzle "free speech," in reality it has been employed almost exclusively against members of Wall Street proxy Thaksin Shinawatra and his seditious foreign-backed opposition movement.


Photo: Downtown Bangkok, May 2010 - protesters organized by Wall Street proxy Thaksin Shinawatra, after providing cover for armed militants for weeks, ended their protest in a city-wide arson and looting spree. It was in the backdrop of these protests that Akong sent his death threats against Thailand's head of state for which he was subsequently imprisoned for 20 years. 
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In fact, Akong himself sent the SMS messages that landed him in prison at one of Thaksin's "red shirt" rallies in May of 2010 - at the height of a violent clash between Thaksin's supporters and government troops. The death toll would climb as high as 91 over the course of nearly two months and featured black-garbed militants attacking government troops, committing arson, and directing and using for cover violent mobs on Thaksin's behalf. Daily calls were made from Thaksin's paid-for demagogues on their elaborate stages for violence and mayhem. It was amidst this fervor that Akong sent his SMS messages to a high ranking secretary in the ruling government, threatening the life of Thailand's head of state along with his entire family.




Video: Threats had been made against both Thailand's elected government and its head of state by Thaksin's mobs since at least 2009 when mobs actually attacked the prime minister's car, as seen here. In other words, threats made by Thaksin's "red shirt" protesters are demonstratively often carried out. (More about the background of Thailand's 2010 violence and how human rights are being leveraged can be found here.) 
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Akong wasn't caught discussing political commentary at home on an average day, he was threatening the life of Thailand's head of state and his family in the midst of a deadly conflict where troops, civilians, police, and protesters had and would still die. His threats would not be tolerated under 18 USC § 876 in the United States, anywhere in Europe, and they were not tolerated in Thailand. Despite his frail health, he was sentenced and began his 20 year jail term before dying this week in prison from a precondition, most likely cancer.

Preying on human emotions, good intentions and the ignorance of outsiders looking in, Western "human rights" organizations and the Western press, as well as US State Department funded propaganda outfits in Thailand, including "Prachatai," are attempting to leverage Akong's death in this brief window of opportunity to further undermine Thailand's establishment and institutions, as well as incite outrage not only locally, but before an international audience. They are also capitalizing on the flawed and opaque Thai justice system that fails to publicly disclose the nature of "Lese Majeste" offenses and makes it difficult if not impossible to repeat the offense publicly without fear of being in "violation" of the law as well. This flaw has allowed the Western "human rights" racket to run with the story, knowing that the true nature of Akong's threats will be made known only long after the propagandists have done their damage.

However, the Land Destroyer Report has gained the full text of Akong's messages and has confirmed that indeed two of the four messages threaten both physical harm and death to Thailand's head of state and his family, including his children. The "grandfatherly" Akong, as he is depicted by the Western press, included in his messages amongst a sea of expletives, the phrase "you'll all die," for example, and threatened to stomp on the faces of certain specific individuals.

The information was made available by paid-propagandist Andrew Marshall, formally of Reuters, who perhaps believed his rhetorical statement buried under a lengthy attempt to defame Thailand and its institutions, of "whether they [the SMS's] should merit a 20-year jail sentence in a 21st century democracy is highly controversial," would adequately exonerate Akong in the court of public opinion. However it is unthinkable that in a "21st century democracy," threats to the safety and lives of others would be tolerated as anything less than a punishable crime, and certainly not categorized as "free speech."

In a world where truth activists, human freedoms, and general privacy is under real assault, the cause of free speech is belittled by championing for politically motivated "prisoners of conscience" that are guilty of real crimes, and are part of a larger foreign-backed ploy to destabilize and destroy a targeted nation-state. By calling the corporate-media on contrived causes like Akong, and exposing the truth behind not only what really happened, but exactly why the foreign press is so interested in such cases, we can direct attention back on real issues and real violations of human freedoms. 

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Because of strong language & the current legal & political landscape of Thailand, the full Thai text of the court's case against Akong as well as an English translation of his SMS messages threatening Thailand's head of state, cannot be posted in full here - simply contact Land Destroyer at cartalucci@gmail.com for information on obtaining the documents.