NEWS: Sulak Sivaraksa Arrested in Thailand

by Danny Fisher

Via New Mandala: According to the Associated Press, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sulak Sivaraksa, Thailand’s preeminent social activist and engaged Buddhist leader, has been arrested on the charge of insulting the country’s monarchy. His lawyer tells the AP that a conviction could carry with it a prison sentence of up to fifteen years.

Sivaraksa has been arrested several times before on charges of insulting the monarchy, a crime which is also known as “lèse majesté.” This time, the trouble stems from a speech he gave in December 2007 to mark the occasion of International Human Rights Day. (His lawyer declined to quote the offensive passages for reporters.) Sivaraksa has denied the charges and was released on bail.

The AP puts all of this into perspective:

    In recent years, a nationalist fervor that emphasizes devotion to the monarchy has swept Thailand, making authorities more sensitive to possible criticism.
Thais in 2006 celebrated the 60th anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej taking the throne. In the same year, a coup toppled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was accused of showing disrespect to the monarchy as well as corruption.

Thaksin’s opponents continue to fight against his political machine, which they sometimes accuse of seeking to establish a republic. The government, led by Thaksin’s allies, consistently avows its loyalty to the crown.

Almost all Thais revere the monarchy, and especially admire the 80-year-old king. However, the lèse majesté charge is often used for political purposes as a way of smearing its targets.Sivaraksa, who founded and directs Thailand’s Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation, also serves on the advisory board of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists. And in addition to all his work as an activist, organizer, and social critic in Thailand, he has served as chair of the UN’s Asian Cultural Forum on Development and has been a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Hawaii, and Cornell University. He is also the author such books as Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society, Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World, and Loyalty Demands Dissent: Autobiography of a Socially Engaged Buddhist.

I’ve had the distinct pleasure and true honor of meeting and receiving teachings from Sulak, and I think he’s one of the most extraordinary and inspiring individuals I have ever met. Here’s what some others have had to say about him:

    “Sulak Sivaraksa has set an admirable example of the relevance of Buddhism in the contemporary world.”—His Holiness the Dalai Lama
“Known as one of Asia’s leading social thinkers, Sulak Sivaraksa sees the goals of Buddhist development as equality, love, freedom, and liberation.”—Aung San Suu Kyi

“Sulak Sivaraksa is a bodhisattva who devotes all of his energies to helping others.”—Thich Nhat Hanh

“An irrepressible campaigner for a sane and just society, Sulak unites the strengths of a traditional Dharmic sensibility with the critical rigor of a Western-educated intellectual. His life offers an heroic example of engaged Buddhism in practice.”— Stephen Batchelor

“Like Gandhi, Sulak offers great inspiration to a civilization that has lost its way.”—Jack Kornfield

“Sulak is one of the heroes of our time, offering us deep wisdom and refreshingly sane alternatives to the Earth-destroying religions of consumerism, greed, and exploitation.”— Joanna Macy