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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Maybe Thailand is not so hysterical about lese majeste...

Read this craziness:


Writers Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle stand convicted of violating modern British laws against "stirring up racial and religious hatred" for publishing, among other things, an allegedly anti-Semitic comic book called "Tales of the Holohoax" as well as a nativist-British pamphlet called "Don't Be Sheeple".

As the irrepressible creators of a pugnacious web site called 'Herectical.com', Shepard and Whittle (who writes under the pen name, 'Luke O'Farrell') have published scores of taboo-busing manifestos, cultural critiques and satires, as well as numerous scientific papers and 'general interest' material. But it all came to a crashing end last year under the boot heel of a British court. What's worse, their prickly commentary was about to earn them a multi-year stint in an English jail.

Outraged at what they consider politically based persecution, the two dissenters chose instead to seek political asylum in America. Then the US Dept. of Homeland Security stepped in.

The most recent chapter of their political odyssey began on July 14, 2008, when Sheppard and Whittle (dubbed the 'Heretical Two') delivered themselves to US authorities at Los Angeles International Airport upon their arrival from Europe. But instead of sanctuary they received a one-way ticket to the Santa Ana jail; this, despite the fact that they entered the US legally and the contents of their published works violate no US law. In fact, the server headquarters of their web site, Heretical.com, is located in California. Despite this, an American judge presiding over their asylum case has refused to grant them bail.---

Bruce Leichty, Sheppard and Whittle's former immigration attorney, had this to say about the bizarre British edict that prompted the Heretical Two to take flight: "Under this novel application of [British] law, American citizens, or indeed citizens of any nation, are rendered subject to arrest and prosecution by the British authorities if anything they post on the world wide web is deemed in breach of British laws governing the discussion of race and religion". These extra-national laws pose a direct challenge to America's First Amendment rights.

Meanwhile, Sheppard and Whittle languish in an American jail, unseen and unknown. This undermines their quest for freedom since publicity is vital to raising funds to sustain their legal battle. But the Heretical Two are not alone. In Europe, additional dissenters on the Right are being targeted. Others, like Holocaust skeptics Ernst Zundel and Germar Rudolf, remain behind bars.

This throws the lese majeste thing into a whole new light, if the Europeans are throwing people in jail for so-called hate speech and the US courts are doing their bidding.

Hell, Thailand may now even have standing in foreign courts to extradite people for lese majeste.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It is 'heretical.com'