Member Since: 11/5/2009
Posts: 8,096
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Shackled U.S. citizen faces 15 years in jail after admitting
Quote:
Shackled U.S. citizen faces 15 years in jail after admitting online insult to Thai royal family
American Joe Gordon, pictured, faces up to 15 years in Thai jail for allegedly defaming King Bhumibol Adulyadej
A shackled U.S. citizen pleaded guilty today to charges of defaming Thailand's royal family - a grave crime in the south-east Asian kingdom that is punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
Thai-born American Joe Gordon has been detained since late May for translating excerpts of a locally banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and posting them online.
Judges said that a sentence would be issued on November 9 for Gordon, who committed the alleged crimes years ago while living in the U.S. state of Colorado, where he worked as a car salesman.
The case has raised concerns about the reach of Thai law and how it is applied to both Thai nationals and foreign visitors.
The 55-year-old Gordon, wearing handcuffs and ankle shackles, told three judges in Bangkok: 'I'm not fighting in the case. I'm pleading guilty, sirs.'
Defence lawyer Arnon Nampa said earlier that Gordon had decided last week to plead guilty after being denied bail eight times.
Speaking briefly to reporters as he was being escorted into the courtroom, Gordon said pleading innocent was futile. 'How can I fight?' he said, adding that the trial is 'not fair'.
'I want the American government to help me because this is about freedom of expression,' he said.
American diplomats have pressed Thai authorities unsuccessfully to drop the case, arguing in part that it could damage the country's tourism image and deter some from visiting.
The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok registered its public disappointment in the case in August, when prosecutors officially filed charges against Gordon.
Gordon reportedly lived in the U.S. for about 30 years before returning to Thailand last March for medical treatment. Arnon said Gordon wished to return to Colorado.
He was arrested by Thai authorities in May in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.
Gordon's primary crime appears to be translating excerpts from the locally banned, unauthorised biography The King Never Smiles into the Thai language and publishing them on an online blog.
He also provided links to the translation to other two web forums, prosecutors say.
American citizen Joe Gordon, faces up to 15 years in Thailand
Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 83, pictured last year
Bangkok's royal palace, where Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej resides
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The fact that he said/translated this while he was still in America... Gurrl don't mess with the real King. 
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