Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in a Thai prison
for writing a novel that practically nobody has read. Nicolaides'
Verisimilitude had a print run of 50 copies. He sold no more than 10.
But something in the book allegedly insulted Thailand's royal family,
and that was enough to have him chained at the ankles, shaven-headed and snivelling, remorseful to the heavens but too late to avoid some time in jail.
Fair or not (and many Thais will insist that it is not), Nicolaides' pitiable image is the current face of Thailand's lese-majesty law: frivolous and disproportionate, some would say ridiculous, maybe even funny, if it weren't so chilling.
Two brothers were attacked by opposing ball hockey players and spectators
because of their religion, their father said. Ahmed Buksh said his sons, Elijah,
21, and Izaiah, 20, were playing at the B. C. Institute of Technology gym in
Burnaby on Sunday in a tournament put on by the B. C. Muslim Sports Association.
"It was a targeted attack on two boys. I never saw anything like it," Mr. Buksh
said. "It was just disgusting. They believe we are non-Muslim. At the end of the
day, that is the cause." Mr. Buksh said he and his sons are Muslims, but do not
follow the Sunni branch of the religion, which the sports association favours.
"I just believe in being Muslim," he said. According to Mr. Buksh, the
derogatory comments directed toward the men turned to open hostility during the
early stages of their second game of the tournament. Both were attacked by the
opposing players. One was hit in the head by a stick and the other suffered
broken teeth after being hit in the face. "Before you know it, it was just a
massive riot," said Mr. Buksh. "I went in there as a father and tried to help."
A Bahamian paramedic pleaded not guilty and was held without bail on Monday
on charges he conspired to extort US$25-million from John Travolta after the
actor's son died in the Bahamas earlier this month. Bahamian police said last
week they were investigating a complaint by Travolta of an extortion plot
against him. Prosecutors allege the paramedic, Tarino Lightbourne, tried to
extort Travolta by means of threats. They also charged him with forgery.
Magistrate Carolita Bethel adjourned his hearing until today, when a former
Bahamian senator, Pleasant Bridgewater, is due in court to face charges of
conspiracy to extort and abetment in connection with the case. Jett Travolta,
16, was found unconscious on Jan. 2 at his family's home in the Old Bahama Bay
resort on Grand Bahama Island. On the death certificate, Bahamian authorities
listed "seizure disorder" as the cause of death.
