CJ Hinke

CJ Hinke is a translator, book publisher and bibliographer of numerous children's books in Latin and Thai.  He has lived in Thailand since 1989 where he founded Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) in 2006 to campaign against pervasive censorship in Thai society.  As a Quaker, he became an organiser in the pacifist movement opposing the war in Vietnam and was arrested more than 35 times in demonstrations of civil disobedience.  After moving to Canada, in 1976, he became the last American arrested for the Vietnam draft, pardoned by Jimmy Carter's first official act as US President.  CJ formed the Society Protecting Intact Kinetic Ecosystems (SPIKE) which supported the tree-spiking of one of the world's last intact temperate rainforests in Clayoquot Sound off the west coast of Vancouver Island.  FACT's campaign is active internationally in resisting Internet, book, film and self-censorship.  “Freedom of opinions, freedom of thought, freedom of ideas, every one of us deserves a voice.”

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Latest posts by CJ Hinke

Police lèse majesté “experts” in Prachatai trial

  2 September 2011

A capacity crowd of supporters filled the lèse majesté trial of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster of Thailand’s independent online news portal Prachatai, which continued into its seventh day at Bangkok’s Criminal Court. Yesterday’s animated senior judge, The Honourable Kampol Rungrat, was joined by a second. An affable police major-general, Suraphon Tuanphong,...

Thailand: Free speech on trial – day five

  12 February 2011

Day Five – Police scientist testifies for prosecution ((Please also read day one, day two, day three and day four trial.) The fifth day of trial continued on Friday for independent news portal Prachatai’s webmaster, Chiranuch Premchaiporn independent news portal Prachatai’s webmaster in Bangkok’s Criminal Court. Chiranuch is charged with...

Thailand: Free speech on trial – day four

  11 February 2011

Day four: MICT and police lawyers testify (Please also read day one, day two and day three trial) The trial of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, independent news portal Prachatai’s webmaster continued Thursday in Bangkok’s Criminal Court. Two further prosecution witnesses were called to testify. The morning session was devoted to MICT lawyer...

Thailand: Free speech on trial – day three

  9 February 2011

Day Three – MICT’s legal advisor testifies: “Freedom has its limits.” (Day one and day two trial) The third day for prosecution witnesses in the trial of Prachatai webmaster Chiranuch Premchaiporn opened in Bangkok’s Criminal Court Wednesday. We have written that Chiranuch is facing 50 years on ten charges under...

Thailand: Free speech on trial (day two)

  9 February 2011

Day Two: Thailand’s chief censor continues in Prachatai trial (Day one trial see) The second day in the lèse majesté trial against Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster of Thai independent news portal, Prachatai, using the Computer Crimes Act began Tuesday. Chiranuch, nicknamed Jiew, was charged over ten comments to Prachatai’s public webboard...

Thai webmaster facing 50 years for lèse majesté postings

  5 February 2011

The trial of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, nicknamed Jiew, opened on Friday at Bangkok’s Criminal Court, the venue changed to Courtroom 701. A larger courtroom was needed due to an unprecedented number of observers from numerous Thai and foreign NGOs, local and international media, and foreign embassies.

Thailand now blocking 277,610 websites

  8 November 2010

Conservative, Royalist Manager media network published the first govt announcement of further Internet censorship since July. Buried in Manager’s propaganda, we learn that the new Army commander has signed a memorandum of understanding with the ICT minister and the ministers of justice and culture. The MOU specifies 43,000 new websites to be blocked immediately and 3,000 pending for lèse majesté content.

Thailand’s Emergency: Who Killed the King?

  11 October 2010

David Streckfuss, a human rights expert on political and cultural history, finds that the heart of the longstanding and ongoing lèse majesté debate rests in the country’s defamation law. This truism concerns not only academics who are constrained from speaking freely but also ordinary citizens.

Thailand: Another lèse majesté computer act arrest

  16 February 2010

On February 5 an unidentified man was arrested for comments he posted to a webboard. His house was searched, his computer confiscated as evidence, his family frightened, and friends panicked. These are ordinary people who express opinions that the authorities consider dangerous, and the mainstream media never allows. The Internet...

Google for good…or just for money?

  24 January 2010

Google’s recent opposition to Internet censorship in China went wildly underreported in Thailand. Yet this move to seize the moral high ground has vast implications to Thailand and every other censorship nation. The world’s censors have been put on notice by a company worth five billion dollars, more than many...

Thailand’s new tsunami of political repression – SET them FREE!

  12 November 2009

Politicians can be so entertaining. Sometimes we laugh so hard we cry. Of course, the posturing and bluster of politicians always leads to the truth being forgotten as they try to distance themselves from any issue which could interfere with their position at the public trough. We’re still trying to...

Thailand: Liberal Thai blocked by MICT!

  1 November 2009

Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT). We have just discovered free Thai language news site Liberal Thai blocked by a transparent proxy redirecting users to Thailand's ICT ministry. Liberal Thai is a new websites which has been translating news articles in English into Thai making them accessible to Thai readers, particularly...

Thailand: Nine new charges against Prachatai webmaster

  17 April 2009

Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster of independent Thai online news portal Prachatai, was arrested on March 6 under Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act. Her charges resulted from allowing comments posted by readers of Prachatai’s online discussion fora alleged to be lèse majesté.

Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) releases new legal circumvention tools

  4 February 2009

Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) is pleased to announce two new, easy, legal tools for circumventing Internet censorship. Thailand's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the Official Censor of the Military Coup, has blocked at least 17,775 websites which, along with blocking by the Royal Thai Police, resulted in more than 50,000 websites blocked in Thailand. Public webboard discussions, circumvention tools, voices from Thailand's Muslim South and critical commentary of Thailand's monarchy were particularly targetted for censorship.

Harry Nicolaides, Thailand's latest political prisoner

  21 January 2009

The Harry Nicolaides case raises vital issues, procedurally, legally and in Thai society. Was Harry arrested because he wrote in English and therefore his self-published expat bargirl novel of 50 paid-for vanity copies of which seven (we repeat, seven) copies were actually sold, represented a clear and present danger to the Thai monarchy from the world community?

Censoring Free Speech in Thailand

  17 May 2008

The past few weeks have seen YouTube blocked again as well as Prachatai, Thailand’s foremost independent news portal and Same Sky, a journal of social criticism. Both sites have popular public Web discussion boards. In the past, both sites have been warned by MICT to self-censor “sensitive” public comments.